The Transfer
by trenchcoatedslytherin
Summary: One choice is all it takes to change your life. This is the tale of Four's younger sister, Alyssa "Liss" Eaton, and her one choice.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, everyone! This is my first Divergent Fanfiction! I hope you guys like it, please review.

Warnings: Abuse

Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent or any of the Characters in this story except for Liss.

I wake to the sound of footsteps in the room adjacent to mine. Quickly, I roll out of bed and slip into my clothes: a tight gray undershirt, with a long button down shirt, and a pair of gray pants, standard Abnegation clothing. I braid my raven colored hair silently, knowing that I can't put it in a bun without risking revealing the bruises that cover the back of my neck.

I shuffle to the kitchen after gathering my school supplies and grab a slice of bread to eat. I rest on the edge of my chair ready to leave as soon as Tobias, my brother, is ready. When he finishes his breakfast, I leap up and push in my chair, ready to leave; however before we can make it to the door our father appears. I freeze and unconsciously straighten up.

He looks directly at Tobias, his eyes skipping over me completely.

"The aptitude test is today," he mentions casually, but his eyes are sharper than glass as they inspect Tobias.

"Remember what we discussed," he orders before tilting his head towards the door, signaling that we were allowed to leave.

As soon as we are outside I fell like I can breathe again. I fall into step with Tobias as we travel through the factionless section of town in order to reach our school. Before we enter, I reach for Tobias' hand and squeeze it, a silent way of telling him good luck.

The rest of the day passes swiftly; I remain a part of the background keeping quiet unless it's absolutely necessary for me to speak. I worry that if I open my mouth, I might spit out the truth about Marcus or slip up on a lie that I had told in order to prevent anyone from becoming suspicious. It's an illogical fear, just the thought of coming clean, makes my body feel paralyzed.

It wasn't the truth that I was terrified about, it was what other people would think. It was easy to believe that I deserved everything that Marcus did to me. I wasn't the best child; I was selfish and had a difficult time caring for others. Furthermore, I wasn't very pretty and I acted out of turn often. Mom died after she gave birth to me and Marcus pinned that on me. Tobias didn't deserve it though.

I walk home alone, not bothering to wait for Tobias. When I arrive, I head straight to my room, thankful that Marcus doesn't stop me on my way up. I eat dinner, do my homework, then go to sleep. However, I don't stay asleep for long; I awaken hours later to the sound of Marcus shouting.

I flinch, when I hear something hit the wall, and dread instantly fills my stomach. He'll come in here when he's done with Tobias and start in on me. The waiting's the worst part, I hear the sound of objects smashing and a belt slapping against flesh, I try to control my breathing. If he notices my fear, he'll make my punishment worse.

Finally, I hear footsteps outside my door and I hear the knob turn. When he tells me to get up, I do so without complaint. I stay silent as he shoves me against the wall; I hit it head on and can feel my nose crack. I'm mute as he swings his belt down on my back over and over and I hold back my screams when he kicks my stomach. When he's done, I pick myself up slowly, my back burning while my shirt is damp with blood from my nose and back.

I lie on my stomach that night and in the morning I do my best to disinfect my back while I shower. After I prepare myself for the day, I go to Tobias' room and knock on the door. When he lets me come in, the first thing I see is a variety of objects splayed out across the floor, I recognize them. They're all objects that Tobias and I had kept for our own selfish reasons. However, I'm glad to detect that none of them are the sculpture that Mom had given Tobias to keep in there.

I start picking up the objects that are scattered out on the floor and Tobias joins me. When we finish I gently sit down on his bed.

"I'm sorry, Liss. I had brought everything out last night, and then fell asleep before I got the chance to put it away," he says.

"It's okay, he would have found out sooner or later," I replied, "But, I actually wanted to find out what faction you're going to choose today."

He bites his lip, before answering, "I don't know yet."

"Don't pick Abnegation, if you do you'll be stuck with him forever."

"I can't just leave you with him," he insists.

"Yes, you can. In two years I'll be out of here, this is your one shot to get out. Being factionless would be better than staying here."

He nods at my words before agreeing. Before we exit the room, I hug him lightly, trying not to put too much pressure on his back.

The choosing ceremony flashes by, and soon it is Tobias' turn to choose. I straighten up and watch him take the knife carefully from Max, the Dauntless leader who is running the ceremony today. I watch him slice his hand, and walk over to where the Abnegation bowl is. He turns and looks at Marcus and I. I nod my head, trying to communicate to him that it was still okay for him to leave, that I wanted him to get out. He places his hands over the burning coals and lets the blood trickle from his palm into the bowl.

The crowd erupts into cheers and disapproving mumbles, everyone in the Abnegation faction turns to stare at Marcus and I. Some offer their condolences but most look on in pity. I scan the dauntless section and when my eyes meet with Tobias' I smile slightly.

That night the consequences are worse than they have ever been. Marcus is on a rampage, he accuses me of tricking Tobias into leaving. I don't try to deny, I know that if I do, I probably wouldn't be able to leave the house for days. When he finishes, I crawl into my bed and mentally count the days that I have until my own choosing day.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! Two chapters in one day, this is what happens when you're avoiding doing your homework. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy. Please review, I'd love criticism.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Liss.

The next two years pass by quickly, there is no word from Tobias, but I assume that that's for the best. Today is the day of my choosing ceremony. Yesterday, I had my aptitude test; I went through the test picking the choices that Marcus had trained me to choose. I picked cheese over a knife and jumped in front of the dog when the little girl appeared; afterwards when they asked if I was aware during the simulation I lied and told them no. However now that the time has come, I'm unsure if I wish to switch to the Erudite faction or to join my brother with the Dauntless.

Marcus and I are one of the first people to arrive to the ceremony. Before we had left, he had explained what exactly I was supposed to do; take the knife, cut my hand, and pour my blood over the grey stones. I converge into line with the other sixteen year olds; I'm situated near the back since my last name begins with an E. At last the ceremony begins; I don't listen as Marcus gives his speech. My feet feel as if they're glued to the ground and my head is spinning.

This is the day that I've been waiting for, I should feel excited but I don't. Instead, everything feels unreal. Marcus' voice is muffled and I dig my nails into my hand to bring myself back to reality. My eyes focus in on the bowls on the center platform. I skip over the dirt for Amity, the glass for Candor, and the grey stones of Abnegation. Rather, I allow myself to gaze at the water for Erudite and the burning coals for Dauntless.

I'd like to pick Dauntless, but I'm unsure if I'm brave enough. I can't even stand up to my own father, but I do face him every day. If I took a guess, I'd say that he is my worst fear. Also, I believe that selflessness and bravery aren't too different. In order to be brave you usually end up putting others before yourself, and I've had years to practice being selfless.

However, I could still be considered a coward. I had never stood up to anyone about anything. I've watched people bully others and haven't said anything about it. Erudite was a backup plan, but I was divergent and from what I had heard, the Erudite faction wasn't excessively accepting of divergents unless they were dead.

The first name is called and I watch an Amity girl pour her blood onto the soil, choosing to stay in her own faction. I zone out for the most part until I hear Marcus announce,

"Caleb Prior."

I watch as he strolls up and cuts his hand, he hesitates for a second before thrusting his hand over the Erudite bowl. My eyebrows lift slightly at that, there are rarely any transfers from Abnegation and now there will be at least two. I watch Caleb's sister, Beatrice, go up next. She follows the process and I feel confident that she's going to pick Abnegation, especially when she puts her hand over the bowl. However, at the last second she moves her hand so that her blood spills into the Dauntless bowl. The ceremony goes on and I wait for my name to be called.

"Alyssa Eaton," Marcus calls out and for a second I'm frozen with fear, but then I'm moving, one foot in front of the other.

When I reach him, he presents a clean knife; I take it and lift my eyes to meet his. Not breaking eye contact I run the knife along my palm, I place the knife back on the table before curling my hand into a fist and putting it over the Dauntless bowl. I watch as my blood scatters over the burning coals.

Suddenly, it feels as if a string has been cut and I'm finally free. I feel lighter and my breathing becomes easier. He can't come after me, it would ruin his reputation. I can feel Marcus' eyes on me, no one notices the way he's glaring at me, they're too busy shouting about my choice. I let out a small laugh and smile at him before exiting the platform and joining my new faction.

Upon arriving, I'm instantly clapped on the back and cheered for. I stand next to Beatrice, who smiles at me in greeting. Throughout the rest of the ceremony my lips continue to twitch upwards. Finally, it comes to a close, immediately the Dauntless start shouting and pouring out. We head for the stairs and soon I'm running alongside the other Dauntless. I hear a boy ask "What the hell is going on?" instead of answering I laugh.

By the time we arrive outside my lungs burn slightly; the chilly, crisp air however is refreshing. The Dauntless quit running after a minute, instead they sprawl out across the street; I push my way towards the front of the crowd and then I hear a horn. I turn my head and see a train sailing along. The Dauntless jump on first, until only the initiates remain.

I run alongside the Dauntless-initiates, I push one of them out of the way and jump into the car. My hand fumbles slightly on the handle, but I manage to pull myself in. Looking around the car, I notice that I'm the only transfer; the others must be on the ones further back. I hastily move out of the doorway and sit on the floor.

"What's the stiff doing in here?" shouts a boy with a nose ring, once it's clear no one else is getting in this car.

"She should be in the car with the _other_ transfers," a girl with light purple hair claims.

"Hey, at least she got on the train," says a girl with golden eyes and an eyebrow piercing.

A tall boy with dark skin and eyes slides down the wall next to me and holds his hand out, "I'm Uriah."

I stay quiet for a moment before sliding my hand into his and shaking it awkwardly, "Liss."

"I didn't actually think you'd make it at first, in Dauntless."

"Gee, thanks."

"But _now_ I think you might."

"Is that cause I pushed some initiate out of my way to get on?"

He tilts his head back and laughs, "Wish I had seen that, a feisty stiff. But, uh, no that's not why. You just look like you're prepared to fight. Anyways you might want to stand up, we're going to be jumping in a moment."

I stand and look out the window, ahead the Dauntless were streaming out onto the roof.

"Hey, move! Let the stiff go first," Uriah orders.

"What are you doing?" I shout.

"Helping you."

He pushes me towards the doorway and I wait for our car to approach the roof. As soon as we are close enough, I push off, not allowing myself to think about it. It feels like I was flying for a moment, then my feet hit the ground harshly, and I stumble forward but manage not to fall. A hand lands on my shoulder and I look up to see Uriah,

"Good job, Liss."

I smile back and open my mouth to reply when I hear a scream. I look over and see a girl hovering next to the edge of the roof, I don't look over the roof to see what's happened, it's obvious that someone hasn't made it. I wince as does Uriah we then join the group that is forming near a side of the roof.

"Listen up! My name is Max! I am one of the leaders of your new faction!" exclaims a man with grey hair and several wrinkles, that is standing on the ledge of the roof. "Several stories below us is the members' entrance to our compound. If you can't muster the will to jump off, you don't belong here. Our initiates have the privilege of going first."

"You want us to jump off a ledge?" an Erudite questions.

"Yes," Max replies.

"Is there water at the bottom or something?"

"Who knows?"

I almost want to laugh. I'm not afraid of heights but becoming a pancake on the cement doesn't sound too enthralling. Yet, I highly doubt that they want to kill all the initiates. I'm about to volunteer to go first, the anticipation to make the jump already eating at me, when Beatrice makes her way forward. I'm not surprised, she's selfless, no one else was going to come forward, so she did.

She stands up there for a while, staring down at whatever's below; finally she strips off her over shirt and throws it at a Candor transfer before jumping down. I wait a second before walking to edge, looking down I spot a huge hole in the ground. My eyes shift over to Max, he looks down at his watch before giving me the go ahead. I turn around and fall backwards off the roof.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, everyone! I realize I have forgotten to mention that there will not be a war at the end of this book. At the moment a lot of what is happening is coming straight from the book, but luckily that will soon be changing once I reach the training part (hopefully). Anyways, I hope you guys like it! Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss, everything else belongs to Veronica Roth.

I close my eyes and let the howling wind fill my ears. After a few seconds I hit something hard, then it gives way and cradles my body. I open my eyes to find that I'm in a net, hands reach out for me on my left and I grab the closest one. I'm yanked off the net, when my feet touch the ground I'm slightly off balance and another larger hand reaches out to steady me.

"Another one? Did they switch the bowls or something?" a dark haired girl chirps. "What's your name kid?"

However, I don't answer, because standing next to me is my brother, Tobias. I'm not quite sure what to say, so I just stare at him, frozen in place. I knew I would see him eventually, but I hadn't prepared myself for this moment. A hug didn't seem right and announcing to everyone that I was his sister didn't seem like the best of ideas. A shriek of laughter behind us pulls me back to the present. I look away from my brother and answer the girl,

"Liss."

I quickly shuffle over to the side to stand beside Beatrice, who is now going by Tris. Once all the initiates have jumped we travel down a dark stone hallway. After a while, we stop and the dark haired girl from before speaks,

"This is where we divide. The Dauntless-born initiates are with me. I assume you don't need a tour of the place."

The girl and half of the initiates disappear into the darkness, as I survey the group of transfers. There are ten of us: two, including myself, are Abnegation, the rest are Erudite and Candor. In front of us my brother begins to speak,

"Most of the time I work in the control room, but for the next few weeks, I am your instructor. My name is Four."

I crinkle my nose and begin to wonder why he chose the number four as a name. As if she read my mind a Candor girl asks,

"Four? Like the number?"

"Yes," my brother responds, "Is there a problem?"

"No."

"Good. We're about to go into the Pit, which you will someday learn to love. It-"

"The Pit? Clever name," the Candor girl from before snickers.

Tobias, or Four, stalks up to the girl and leans in, eyes narrowed and stares. Intimidation isn't a tactic I'm used to seeing my brother use, and it surprises me how menacing he can look.

"What's your name?"

"Christina," she squeaks.

"Well, Christina, if I wanted to put up with Candor smart-mouths, I would have joined their faction. The first lesson you will learn from me is to keep your mouth shut. Got that?"

Christina nods stiffly.

Four stalks off to another corner and we all follow in silence. I hear Christina mumble an insult and Tris whisper something back. We reach a set of double doors that Four pushes open and we enter the Pit.

The room is humongous and made entirely out of rock, there are nooks and crannies everywhere. Shops have been built into the walls and clothing, food, furniture, and other supplies are hung on display. There are narrow paths and steps carved into rocks that connect the shops. The place is filled to the brim with people. I examine my surroundings and attempt to imprint the chaos around me into my memory.

"If you follow me, I'll show you the chasm," my brother announces.

Ahead of us is an iron railing, the sound of water pounding down onto rocks fills my ears. I look down and see a river, the water is battling against the rocks and rushing downwards and for a brief second I wonder what it would feel like if I were to fall.

"The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!" Tobias roars above the water. "A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned."

Soon, Four leads us to a two large doors that are propped open. He steps to the side of the entrance and his eyes collide with mine, he motions to the side with his head and I fall behind the other initiates. As soon as everyone else has passed through the entrance I step over to where Tobias is waiting for me.

For a moment we both stand there, awkwardly staring at one another. Then, he reaches out to me and pulls me into a hug. I stand stiffly for a bit, with my hands glued to my sides. A couple seconds pass and then I slowly lift my arms up and return the embrace, albeit less enthusiastically.

When he pulls away, he says, "Hey."

"Hey, long time no see."

He winces slightly, "Liss, I'm sorr-"

"No, don't apologize. I didn't mean it like that, I was just joking. I know you couldn't have come back, and if you remember correctly, _I_ was the one that encouraged you to leave."

He nods, "It's good to see you."

"Same."

With that having been said, we both slip into what I can only assume is the cafeteria, the initiates are all still standing and the Dauntless applaud and cheer for us. Soon it calms down and I search for a place to sit. I end up taking a seat next to my brother with Tris and Christina sitting across from us.

In the middle of the table a platter of dark circular meat sits. I grab one hesitantly and Four passes me a bowl with red sauce in it. I notice Tris looking just as skeptical about this food as I feel.

"It's beef," my brother answers the unasked question.

"You've never had a hamburger before?" Christina gapes.

"No," Tris and I respond simultaneously.

"Stiffs eat plain food," Four explains.

"Why?" Christina presses.

"Extravagance is considered self-indulgent and unnecessary," Tris says.

"No wonder you guys left," Christina retorts.

"Yeah. It was just because of the food."

I snort and see Tobias trying not to smile at the comment. Finally, I decide to take a bite. It's extremely flavorful and I can feel my eyes widen. The food back in Abnegation tasted like paste and cardboard. Suddenly switching factions because of food doesn't seem so silly.

Christina, who has been observing Four and I, speaks up, "You know, you two look alike. You could probably pass as siblings."

I glance over at Four, and realize that we really do like alike. We have the same blue eyes and dark hair, our mouths and noses are similar too. However, I'm shorter than him by at least half a foot, and the shapes of our faces are mildly different. I shrug to get out of answering and return to my meal.

Shortly after, the doors to cafeteria open, and the room quiets. I notice Tobias sit up straighter and unconsciously I do the same. Then, I peek over my shoulder to see who walked in. It's a man with a multitude of facial piercings and long, dark hair: he appears to be around Tobias' age.

"Who's that?" whispers Christina.

"His name is Eric. He's a Dauntless leader."

"Seriously? But he's so young."

"Age doesn't matter here."

For a second I wonder how you become a Dauntless leader, then I decide that it doesn't matter since I wouldn't ever want to be one. I hear footsteps approaching our table; I look up in time to see Eric slip into the seat next to Tobias. None of us say anything. I stare openly at him and when his eyes fall onto me, I lift my eyebrows silently saying, _What?_

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" Eric inquires nodding towards us, his eyes flickering away from mine.

"This is Tris, Christina, and Liss."

"Ooh, two Stiffs. We'll see how long you guys last."

I roll my eyes, but stay silent figuring it's best not to piss off a leader on my first day.

"What have you been doing lately, Four?" Eric questions.

"Nothing, really," Four answers, the guarded tone he's using makes it obvious to me that they're not friends.

"Max tells me he keeps trying to meet with you, and you don't show up. He requested that I find out what's going on with you."

Four stares at Eric for a moment before responding, "Tell him that I'm satisfied with the position I currently hold."

"So he wants to give you a job."

"So it would seem."

"And you aren't interested."

"I haven't been interested in two years."

"Well," Eric claps my brother on the shoulder and stands, "let's hope he gets the point, then."

When he leaves everyone at the table visibly slouches and the rest of dinner passes by uneventfully.

When dinner's over the transfers gather in the hall with Eric. He leads us down several hallways in silence then stops in front of a wooden door.

"For those of you who don't know, my name is Eric. I am one of five leaders of the Dauntless. We take the initiation process very seriously here, so I volunteered to oversee most of your training. Some ground rules. You have to be in the training room by eight o'clock every day. Training takes place every day from eight to six, with a break for lunch. You are free to do whatever you like after six. You will also get some time off between each stage of initiation."

"You are only permitted to leave the compound when accompanied by a Dauntless. Behind this door is the room where you will be sleeping for the next few weeks. Anyway, in the first stage of initiation, we keep transfers and Dauntless-born initiates separate, but that doesn't mean you are evaluated separately. At the end of initiation, your rankings will be determined in comparison with the Dauntless-born initiates. And they are better than you are already. So I expect-"

"Rankings?" a small Erudite girl shrieks. "Why are we ranked?"

Eric smiles before answering, "Your rankings serve two purposes. The first is that it determines the order in which you will select a job after initiation. There are only a few desirable positions available. The second purpose is that only the top ten initiates are made members."

Fear floods my stomach but I push it away instantly. I'm strong; I had dealt with Marcus for years and never complained. I could do this. The room is silent as I come to this revelation but then Christina breaks it by screeching,

"What?"

"There are ten Dauntless-borns and ten of you. Four initiates will be cut at the end of stage one. The remainder will be cut after the final test."

"What do we do if we're cut?" asks a transfer from Candor and I almost want to laugh, because it's obvious, being cut means being factionless.

"You leave the Dauntless compound and live factionless," Eric states confirming my thoughts.

"But that's . . . not fair!" a broad Candor girl shouts, "If we had known-"

"Are you saying that if you had known this before the Choosing Ceremony, you wouldn't have chosen Dauntless? Because if that's the case you should get out now. If you are really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. And if it does, you are a coward."

He pushes the door open then says, "You chose us. Now we have to choose you."


	4. Chapter 4

Hello! So, I wanted to inform everyone that this will be an Eric/OC story eventually. Also, I would like to thank 13Nyx13 for reviewing; seriously, I love reviews. I hope you enjoy the chapter and please comment.

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

I wake up the next morning feeling oddly energetic, despite the fact that I had been up half the night listening to another initiate, Al from Candor, sob all night. I'm one of the first up, so I quickly shower and change into the plain black clothes that they had supplied us with. I end up exiting the room at the same time as a boy with shaggy blonde hair that transferred from Erudite.

"Morning," he says after a moment.

We're walking side by side now through the straight hallway.

"Morning," I repeated as we come to a split in the hallway and we both come to a halt.

"You, uh, wouldn't happen to remember how to get out of here?" he questions.

"Uh, no."

We stay silent for a moment before he suggests that we go left.

"So, what's your name?"

"Liss, you?"

"Will."

"Well, Will I'm glad you're an early riser too, because it would suck to get lost in these hallways by myself."

"Agreed. Anyways, what do you think we're going to do in training?"

Soon we're off the topic of initiation and Will is spewing out wild tales from his favorite books, I add in my own snarky comment or opinion of each. Eventually, after seven wrong turns, we make it to the training room.

We're the first transfers to arrive, but Four is in the corner loading guns.

"Do you want any help?"

At the sound of my voice he looks up, when he spots Will next to me he hesitates in answering before saying,

"You're gonna have to learn anyway, so fine."

He beckons us over and hands both of us a gun. It feels heavy and strange in my hand. However, it also fills me with a sense of power. Tobias shows us how to dismantle the gun, then demonstrates how to put the ammunition in correctly and reminds us to put the safety on.

Shortly after we finish the other initiates start pouring in, we're told to get in a line and then Four starts passing out the guns we had just loaded.

"The first thing you will learn to do today is how to shoot a gun. The second thing is how to win a fight. Thankfully, if you are here, you already know how to get on and off a moving train, so I don't need to teach you that. Initiation is divided into three stages. We will measure your progress and rank you according to your performance in each stage. The stages are not weighted equally in determining your final rank, so it is possible, though difficult, to drastically improve your rank over time."

"We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear. Therefore each stage of initiation is intended to prepare you in a different way. The first stage is primarily physical: the second, primarily emotional: the third, primarily mental."

"But what . . ." a Candor, who I learn is named Peter yawns, "What does firing a gun have to do with . . . bravery?"

I raise my eyebrows in disbelief at his actions, apparently Four feels the same way because in the next second he flips his gun over in his hand and presses it into Peter's temple. I watch blankly, as he clicks a bullet into place. Peter freezes as Four says,

"Wake. Up. You are holding a loaded gun, you idiot. Act like it."

Lowering his gun, Four walks to the end of the row turns around and continues,

"And to answer your question . . . you are far less likely to soil your pants and cry for your mother if you're prepared to defend yourself. This is also information you may need later in stage one. So, watch me."

He turns toward the target and holds the gun steady out in front of him with both hands before firing. The bullet lands in the center and the noise it made upon being launched echoes in my ears. Immediately after, initiates begin firing at the targets. I turn towards mine and line up my gun; it feels lumpy and unnatural in my hands. I plant my feet and then fire.

The recoil sends me stumbling backwards and I look and see that I missed the target. I straighten myself up and replant my feet, I grip the gun tightly in both hands and try to align it with the target. I take a deep breath and place my finger over the trigger, when I exhale I push down on it.

I don't move an inch this time and when I inspect the target I see the bullet is on the third innermost circle. It takes me three more times before I hit the center and ten more to be able to hit it every time.

When we break for lunch my arms feel numb from firing the gun so many times. I walk with Will to the cafeteria and after picking out what food we want, we join Tris, Christina, and Al's table. Christina takes a shot at Will asking why he doesn't sit with his Erudite buddies and he shrugs it off. Tris breaks the conversation by exclaiming,

"Do they have to be so public?"

"She just kissed him. It's not like they're stripping naked," Al reasons.

"A kiss is not something you do in public," Tris retorts. "What?"

"Your Abnegation is showing," Christina teases, "The rest of us are all right with a little affection in public. Well, I'm not sure if Liss is . . ."

"I don't mind, it's not that big of a deal," I answer

"Oh. Well . . . I guess I'll have to get over it, then," Tris states.

"Or you can stay frigid. You know. If you want," Will declares, and I kick him softly under the table.

"Don't be so mean to her. Frigidity is in her nature. Sort of like being a know-it-all is in yours," Christina quips.

"I am not frigid!" Tris exclaims.

"Don't worry about it. It's endearing. Look you're all red," Will points out.

Everyone laughs, including Tris and soon lunch is over.

Instead of returning to the room we began in, Four leads us to a new one. It's larger with wooden floors and a green chalkboard, faded black punching bags hang around the room and our names are on the board in alphabetical order. We form a line in the order of our names and all stand next to our punching bag thenTobias begins to speak,

"As I said this morning next you will learn how to fight. The purpose of this is to prepare you to act: to prepare your body to respond to threats and challenges-which you will need, if you intend to survive life as a Dauntless. We will go over technique today, and tomorrow you will start to fight each other. So I recommend that you pay attention. Those who don't learn fast will get hurt."

He demonstrates and talks about several different punches and kicks. I catch on quickly, learning the stance immediately and memorizing the moves easily. Four watches and critiques each initiate, when he reaches me he stops for a second before saying,

"Stay on the balls of your feet, you're smaller than the others, speed will give you a chance of winning. Whenever you punch, make sure to put the majority of your weight into it to get the best effect."

I nod and say, "Thanks."

After we're dismissed for the day Will races up to me.

"You caught on pretty quick back there, faster than most of the others."

I look down before responding, "I've seen a lot of fights, it's easier to catch on if you've seen the moves before."

He nods his head before asking, "So, what do you want to do?"

"Uh, I guess something that shows that we're Dauntless now, not just transfers."

He grins and Al pipes up behind us saying that he wants to get a tattoo.

"A tattoo of what?" Will inquires.

"I don't know. I just want to feel like I've actually left the old faction. Stop crying about it . . . I know you've heard me," Al says.

"Yeah, learn to quiet down, will you?" Christina banters. "I think you're right. We're half in, half out right now. If we want all the way in, we should look the part."

She looks at Tris and I.

"No, I will not cut my hair or dye it a strange color or pierce my face," Tris insists.

"What about your belly button?"

Tris shakes her head.

"Well, I'm not up for any piercings or tattoos since we're fighting tomorrow, but I am up for dying my hair," I reply.

Christina smiles and then says, "Okay, but first you two need new clothes."

She then proceeds to drag Tris and I through the pit to a clothing store.

"What is wrong with my clothes? I'm not wearing gray anymore," Tris complains.

"They're ugly and gigantic," Christina replies, "Liss has the same problem. Will you just let me help you? If you don't like what I put you in, you never have to wear it again, I promise."

I frown but allow her to pick out clothes for me. Not even ten minutes later I'm standing in a pair of tight black pants with a slightly looser top and knee high lace up boots. Tris stands next to me in a past the thigh length loose black dress. Christina forces eyeliner upon the both of us.

Next, we go to a hair salon and the lady at the counter quickly dyes the top half of my hair a bright red that Christina helped me pick out. When we finish, we head up to the tattoo parlor and watch Al get his tattoo.

"Whoa," Will exclaims when he sees me.

"That bad?" I question.

"No, it looks really good, surprisingly."

"Thanks, I guess."

Within a few minutes Al goes back to get his tattoo, while Will and Christina flip through the books and Tris disappears. I walk around the spacious parlor, until a curtain blocks my path. Moving it out of the way I continue on, instead of the walls being surrounded by designs for tattoos the scenery has changed. Different rings and studs for piercings cover the majority of the surfaces in the room and I move forward to inspect some for the nose.

I hear a small laugh behind me and a whispered "damn". I turn around and spot Eric.

"You're going to get a piercing? I didn't think Stiffs knew how to handle pain, " he raises his eyebrows at me.

I turn back towards the rings before replying, "I can handle pain better than you'd think, not that it's any of your business. And no, I'm not getting a piercing. We're fighting tomorrow; I don't need to give my opponent any extra ammunition."

"So, you think you're going to lose? Because if you thi-"

"No, I never said that. _I'm_ going to win; I just meant that it'd be better to wait for a piercing or tattoo. You know, like a day when I know I'm _not_ going to get punched in the face."

He nods and we both fall silent. However, after a moment he speaks again,

"So, you're Four's sister?"

I freeze for a second, my hand, that was holding up a piercing, falters. I try to act calm when I say,

"What makes you think that?"

"Every faction gets a list of transfers so we know who goes where. I had already suspected; you looked too similar."

"Okay, so . . . so what? What does it matter if we're related?"

"At the moment, it doesn't matter; except it means that I'll be training you for now on."

"_What_? Why? Does Four know about this?"

He looks annoyed yet he answers, "Family can't train family nor can they be in charge of their ranks, we don't want favoritism. And Max should be speaking with him now."

"But, we're fighting. How can I cheat in a fight?"

"Don't worry, about having to train under me; it'll only happen _if_ you make it past stage one."

I nod in response.

"Liss! Liss?" I hear Christina calling.

"I, uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," I say to Eric.

He glances at me with a curious expression on his face before saying, "Yeah, see you tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

Hello, everyone! I'd like to thank TrueColorsNeverFade and ladyofstayne for reviewing. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter and please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

I leave the room the next morning before any of the other initiates awaken. When I arrive at the training room, I'm surprised to see that Tobias isn't there yet. I slide down to the floor and stretch, trying to think of a way to get the time to pass quicker. After what feels like ages of waiting the door opens.

"Ugh, it's about time that you've got here, I've been waiting for-Oh!"

As I turn towards the door, I realize that it's not my brother who came in. Instead it's Eric and he seems just as surprised to see me as I am to see him.

"You realize you could have just met your brother in his room if you wanted to talk to him, right?"

For a moment I think about asking him how he knew I was waiting for Tobias but then decide that that's a stupid question, _who else would I be waiting for?_

"Well, obviously I could do that, if I knew where his room was. I mean I would have asked him yesterday, but I couldn't find him after training."

"I didn't ask to hear your life story, Stiff," Eric retorts.

I roll my eyes, and slouch against the wall trying to look anywhere but at Eric. However, that proves to be impossible and the next time my eyes flicker to where he's standing, I notice that he's smirking at me.

"What?" I challenge.

"You said you hadn't seen Four since training yesterday."

"And?"

"And, I can look forward to seeing his face when he sees what you've done to yourself."

I freeze and my eyes widen. I had completely forgotten about my hair. However, I feel a sudden surge to defend myself and not let Eric feel smug that he's caught me off guard for the second day in a row. Standing up and moving towards him, I respond,

"I dyed my hair; I didn't cover my face in piercings or get a huge tattoo. And, it's _my_ body I can do whatever I want with it, I don't need his permission."

Before Eric can respond the door swings up and in walks Tobias. He freezes when he spots Eric and I standing less than a foot apart. I glance over at my brother, and then back at Eric, who's wearing an infuriating smirk. I glare at Eric before strolling over to where Four stands.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey," he repeats, staring at my hair.

"You're late," Eric calls from behind me.

Tobias chooses to ignore him. We're silent for the next few moments, then Eric grabs a piece of chalk and starts writing names on the board.

"Your hair looks nice," Four tells me.

"Thanks."

Soon, the other initiates start arriving and when Eric steps away from the board I look it over, it reads:

Drew & Liss

Will & Al

Christina & Molly

Peter & Edward

Tris & Myra

My heart sinks for a moment; Drew is all muscle and no brains. I'm nervous for a second, but then I force myself to push that feeling away and to focus on winning my fight. Next to me I hear Christina talking to Tris.

"This isn't good. Look, I'm up against the Tank."

"The Tank?" Tris questions.

"Yeah, Peter's slightly more feminine-looking minion. Those three have been inseparable since they crawled out of the womb, practically. I hate them," Christina replies pointing at Peter, Drew, and Molly.

Drew and I are called to the middle of the room and we stand across from each other. Before we begin Drew asks,

"When does the fight end?"

Eric smiles before saying, "It ends when one of you is unable to continue."

"According to Dauntless rules," Four starts up, "one of you could also concede."

"According to the old rules. In the new rule, no one concedes," Eric retorts.

"A brave man acknowledges the strength of others."

"A brave man never surrenders."

The two stare at each other for a few seconds.

"Well? What are you waiting for, let's get this over with," I state. "Come on, hit me."

After seeing Eric's nod, Drew immediately lunges at me and I step out of the way putting my hands in the defense position. I wait for him to make the next move and within a couple seconds he punches me in the stomach; Drew's hands fall to his side for a moment. Instead of doubling over in pain, I take a shot at Drew's unguarded face and he stumbles back. I lift my foot and kick him in the stomach.

However, enraged he quickly straightens out and lunges towards me. I'm too slow this time and he punches me in the nose and I can hear it crack. I block his next punch and send one back at him. He recovers from this blow quicker and manages to send a powerful punch to my jaw that causes me to fall on the floor. From the corner of my eye I see Four turn away and walk out the door. Drew, not wanting to risk me getting up again, kicks me in the stomach. I wince slightly and prepare myself for the next kick. When it comes, I grab a hold of his foot and pull him down. He falls to the right of me and I roll to my left standing up.

He starts to get up and I begin to feel anxious. I swing back my foot and kick him in the stomach, when he doubles over, I reach for his shoulder and press down on his pressure point until he becomes limp and falls back down. I then lift my fingers to underneath my throbbing nose and try to wipe the blood away before looking up at Eric. His face is unreadable and I take it that that means that I've surprised him.

"Go to the nurse," he instructs me while circling my name on the board, "and someone get him out of here."

I exit the room quickly and end up running into Tobias. I smile at him before saying,

"I won."

I see him flinch and remember that I still have blood splattered on my face.

"Good job, just try to be more careful."

I nod and he lets me pass.

Will ends up being sent to the Dauntless hospital and I decide to wait with him. When he finally does wake it's dinner time; he insists that he's fine and then after being released, we walk to the cafeteria together. Upon arriving Tris and Al tell us both about how Eric made Christina hang over the chasm because she tried to call the fight off with Molly.

I wince, it was obvious that Eric wasn't the best guy, but I didn't think he'd be _that_ cruel. Will and I both ask her if she's alright and she swears she's fine. When I'm almost finished eating a hand swoops down in front of me and takes my plate.

"Liss get up, now and follow me," Eric orders taking my plate and throwing it in the trash before exiting the cafeteria.

"What the hell?" I whisper to myself, but get up anyway.

My new friends all look at me and it's Christina that finally says,

"What's that about?"

I shrug, before responding, "I have no clue."

I watch them exchange anxious glances before I walk away. It takes me a minute or two to catch up with him and when I do I feel slightly out of breath.

"What's going on?" I inquire.

"We need to talk."

I almost say something sarcastic back, but then decide it would be best for me to hold my tongue. After a few minutes, we arrive at the training room and upon entering he tells me to pick a punching bag. I choose the one that's near the middle of the room and stare at him.

"Start," he orders.

"Start what? You haven't explained what we're doing."

"I've changed my mind, if you do as well during the rest of initiation as you did today, you'll become Dauntless. You could, most likely, become Dauntless without my training, but you don't want to just pass, you'll want to rank high. And if you rank high it will make you look good and it will make me look good. So, I'm going to help you. Using pressure points was bold, but you can't rely on that move. The other initiates will be expecting it now so you need to get better at fighting. So, start, I'll tell you what to fix as we go."

I spend the next hour beating the bag while Eric tells me what I could do better.

"Okay, stop," he commands.

I comply and reach for a bottle of water. As I re-hydrate he talks,

"That was fine for today; meet me back here at eight tomorrow so we can practice more."

I nod my head in agreement before leaving. I feel anxious about returning to the dorms and facing my friends, since I'm unsure what to tell them. However, before I can make it there I bump into Tobias who's walking with a dark skinned man, who's slightly shorter than him.

"Hey Liss," Tobias says.

"Hey, I actually need to talk to you," I reply.

"Wait, _this_ is Liss? As in your sister, _Liss_?" the man next to him cuts in.

"Yeah, why?" I question.

"Well, everyone has been talking about how _some_ transfer with red hair was with Eric earlier, and it would appear that that transfer is you."

"You were with Eric?" Four inquires and I can see his eyes harden slightly.

"Yeah, that's kind of why I needed to talk to you."

"Did he do anything to you?"

"No, he was training me. I thought you knew that. Anyways, I wanted to ask if it was okay if I told my friends that we were related so I could explain why I was with Eric, but apparently you've already told _your_ friends," I say staring straight at his friend.

"To be fair, I knew about you before you came here. I'm Zeke," he interjects, holding his hand out for me to shake.

I comply as Tobias says, "And why would _Eric_ want to help _you_?"

"He said that if I do good, it makes him look good." He nods and I continue, "But I should get going, early morning tomorrow. It was nice meeting you Zeke."

"You too," Zeke calls out as I walk away.

When I finally arrive at the dorm my friends surround me instantly.

"Where have you been? I thought Eric might have killed you," Christina shouts.

"Yeah, what'd he want with you anyway?" Will questions.

"Calm down, I'll answer in a moment. Let me sit down."

Tris, Christina, and Al sit on Tris' bed while Will and I sit across from them on Christina's bed.

"Okay, so, before I explain why I was with Eric, I have to tell you something," I start and look down, feeling uncomfortable under their stares, "Four's my brother."

"I knew it!" Will and Christina shout then begin fighting amongst each other over who spotted it first.

"You guys do look alike," Al says.

When I look over at Tris, who has remained silent, I can almost see the light bulb go off in her head. I have no doubts that she remembers my last name, and the articles the Erudites wrote about Marcus two years ago when Tobias transferred.

"But that doesn't explain why you were with Eric," Al points out and the others nod in agreement.

"Well, apparently family can't train family. So, Eric has become my trainer. He wasn't going to help me; at least that's what he basically told me yesterday. He had said that he thought I would fail Stage One. But then, well you saw what happened; I guess he changed his mind after I won my fight today."

"Oh," Al replies and when I look up I see them all exchanging looks.

"Oh, what?

"Well, isn't that a bit unfair. No one else has their own personal trainer helping _them_ out. Also, if you do good, then doesn't that make him look good? So wouldn't that make him rank you better," Christina blurts out.

"I don't need his help. It's not like I chose for this to happen. Besides, I beat Drew by myself today; I don't need him," I insist as they each look away and I realize they think that I'm lying. "Christina, Al, you both used to be Candor, so look at me and tell me if I'm lying."

They both turn to stare at me and I gaze back, pleading with my eyes for them to believe me. After a minute they exchange a glance before announcing,

"We believe you, but we don't have to be happy about it."

Soon after, everyone disperses and we all go to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello, everyone! I'd like to give thanks to Divergentismylife, TrueColorsNeverFade, and HermioneandMarcus for reviewing. Anyways, I hope you guys like the chapter. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

The next morning Will and I are the first ones up and out of the dorm. Before heading down to the training room we stop and get muffins for breakfast from the cafeteria.

"You excited to fight today?" Will asks me before taking a bite out of his blueberry muffin.

"Definitely, you know how I just _love_ getting punched in the face."

He laughs before saying, "Hey."

"What?"

"I bet I can beat you to the training room," he proclaims before running off.

I get a grip on my half eaten muffin before chasing after him. I weave my way in and out of the other Dauntless' way throughout the race I'm right behind him until we reach the final corridor which is empty and large enough for both of us to fit through. I pick up my pace and soon we're neck and neck. Luckily, the doors are open when Will and I skid into the room.

"I win!" I declare in between breaths.

"No," Will rasps, "That was me, I made it through first."

My grip on my crumpled muffin loosens and I toss it at his head, "You're a cheater; you started before I did."

"That was strategizing, not cheating," he declares before shaking the crumbs that landed on him into his hands and throwing them at me.

"You look ridiculous," I tell him.

"So do you."

Then we're both laughing. It's not _that_ funny, but it feels so good to laugh that I allow my laughter die out on its own. When we're both finished, we sit down next to the wall that's facing the chalkboard. Will then launches into a story about how he almost blew up one of the science laboratories at Erudite headquarters. By the time he finishes Eric, Tobias, and half of the initiates have arrived and I watch Eric as he writes down new names on the chalkboard. It reads:

Molly & Edward  
Tris & Peter  
Will & Liss  
Al & Drew  
Christina & Myra

I feel my stomach drop. I don't want to fight Will; he's the closest thing I've got to a best friend. I look over at him and realize that he looks just as troubled as I feel. We exchange a glance, but don't say anything.

Molly and Edwards fight passes by quickly with Edward coming out victorious. Up next is Peter and Tris, I feel anxious for her because I know that there's no way she'll win unless she manages to catch him off guard. When they get in the middle of the room, Peter teases her and when Tris goes to kick him, he stops her and flips her on the ground.

"Stop playing with her," Eric commands. "I don't have all day."

I'm unsure if I should feel grateful that Eric is trying to make this as short as possible or to despise him for even pairing them up together. As they fight, I notice Tobias exit the room trying to look anywhere but at the fight. I look between him and the pair fighting, before I realize that he doesn't want to see Tris get hurt; I make a mental note to ask him about it later. The fight doesn't last much longer, Peter knocks Tris out and Eric calls it.

I rise and watch silently as Christina and Al carry Tris off the floor and out of the room. Before I can reach the rink, someone grabs my elbow. I turn and see that it's Eric.

"Remember what we went over last night. Try not to use pressure points again, he'll be expecting it," he instructs me before releasing my elbow.

I frown, using pressure points was my way out of damaging people too much, and now he's telling me not to use them. I finish walking to the middle and then stick my hand out for Will to shake. He shakes my hand in an exaggerated fashion before wishing me good luck and I do the same.

I give the first punch, hitting him directly in the stomach and in retaliation he takes a shot at my jaw that causes me to stumble back. Before I can prepare myself he takes another jab, this time hitting my stomach. The next time he approaches me, I shove him back with all my force, taking him by surprise and before he can catch his balance I kick him in the stomach.

He doesn't fall though and manages to block the next blow I try to send. He shoots for my jaw again, hitting it square on. This time, when I lose my balance, I fall back and as I do, I grab onto him, dragging him down on top of me. I feel the wind get knocked out of me when my back hits the ground and again when Will's weight hits me full on.

However, I refuse to waste time and quickly flip us over so that I'm on top now. I deliver a rough blow to his jaw and try to reach for his pressure point, ignoring Eric's instructions. Unfortunately, Will appears to have expected me to do that because he quickly grabs my wrist and twists it.

I hiss at the pain, and Will flips us over before rising; I follow not far behind him. He attempts to strike my cheek, but I block it easily. The pain from him twisting my wrist spurs me on and I punch him in the stomach once before sending another blow to his nose. I hear a small crack and Will falls. I stare for a moment, refusing to move and I feel a slight horror when Will doesn't move.

After a few seconds have passed, I bend down and try to lift him up. It's difficult, but Edward steps forward and helps me. We carry him to the hospital in silence; it doesn't bother me, I feel appalled that I could do that to him. When we reach the hospital the nurse instantly separates me from him, claiming that I need to be treated too.

I try to fight, I had only hurt my wrist a bit, but then the nurse threatens to put me under if I keep struggling. I sit still and she hands me a towel with ice wrapped inside and tells me to put it on my lip. Confused, I bring it up to my lips and when I pull it away, I see that it's covered in blood. I run my fingers along my lips, realizing that Will must have busted it at some point. Next, she inspects my wrist and wraps it in a tan colored gauze.

Finally, she allows me to visit Will. He's awake and he smiles when he sees me; I, however, can only manage a grimace.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you that bad, I just wanted you to stop fighting," I blurt out then realize how dumb that sounds.

He laughs before saying, "If anyone should be apologizing, I think it should be me. You look awful."

"So, we're good?"

"Yeah, we're good," he pauses before saying, "You should have listened to Eric."

I furrow my eyebrows, "About what?"

"I heard what he said about the pressure points, and I knew you'd try even though he said not to."

"Yeah, well, I only want to hurt people if they deserve it. Fighting like this, it's stupid. It doesn't show how brave you are, it just shows that either A, you can pack a good punch or B, you can think your way out of situations. Neither of those things seem very heroic if you ask me."

"Yeah . . . Well the nurse said I could leave if I want just have to come back and get some pain medication; why don't we find Tris, she's in here somewhere."

Al and Christina are already waiting at Tris' bed when we arrive. Christina appears to be fine for the most part and Al has a small bruise forming on his cheek. We exchange greetings and Christina informs us that there's going to be a field trip tomorrow out to the fence. We continue to chatter amongst ourselves and around half an hour later, Al asks,

"Is her eye already black?"

"What happened to both of your faces?" I hear Tris mumble referring to Will and I.

I lift my eyes and see that she's managed to get one eye open. Christina laughs before saying,

"Look, who's talking. Should we get you an eye patch?"

"Well, I already know what happened to my face. I was there. Sort of," Tris jokes.

"Did you just make a joke, Tris?" Will questions, grinning. "We should get you on painkillers more often if you're going to start cracking jokes. Oh, and to answer your question- we beat up each other."

"I can't believe you couldn't beat Liss," Al pipes in shaking his head.

"What? She's good," Will defends.

"Besides, he probably could have beaten me if he hadn't twisted my wrist. I was feeling worn out, but the pain motivated me."

"You feeling okay, Tris?" Al questions.

"Yeah," Tris answers, "Just wish I could stay here forever so I never have to see Peter again."

"Don't worry about Peter. He at least got beat up by Edward yesterday and I doubt he'll be up against someone easy for the last fight."

"Good," Christina states checking her watch, "I think we're missing dinner. Do you want us to stay here, Tris?"

Tris shakes her head before saying, "I'm fine."

Will, Christina, and I get up while Al stays behind for a moment. Dinner passes by quickly and afterwards Christina and Will go to look at clothing. I go straight to the training room, even though I still have a half hour till I need to be there.

I immediately get to work; I wanted to find out how to hit the bag without hurting my wrist too much. The first few punches hurt like hell and I worried that I would end up making the damage to my wrist worse. However, within the first ten minutes I get the hang of it. I'm so immersed in what I'm doing that I don't hear the door open.

A hand lands on my shoulder and I immediately swing around, throwing my fist out to punch whoever it is. My eyes meet with Eric's, and I slip slightly in my turn. He catches my hand before it makes contact with him as his other hand swoops behind my back to stop me from falling.

"Sorry, no wait, I mean thanks. I mean . . . sorry," I say, staying frozen in my spot.

"It's fine," he tells me as he helps me stand up straight, keeping both of his hands on my lower back.

I step back after a moment, forcing his hands to drop.

"So, is there a plan for today's training?" I question, tearing my eyes away from his.

"I wasn't planning much since you sprained your wrist and I don't need you damaging it anymore, it could make you lose your next fight. If you had listened to what I told you we wouldn't have this problem."

"No, my wrist is fine. If I have two days, after today, to practice then I should spend them practicing. I know, I didn't listen, but if I had listened, I would have lost. The pain was a motivator. Next time, I'll do as you ask but right now I just want to work. The last fight will be the hardest, right?" I ask, turning to look at him.

For the first time I notice that he's looking at me with a hint of respect in his eyes and he nods.

"When you punch you don't put enough force in your fist, you have to put the majority of your weight into it. If you get the chance, use your elbows, they'll do more damage. Go," he instructs.

The moves are easy at first, but over time my wrist starts to hurt more and more. I don't mention it, but I know Eric notices because he has me switch from practicing punches to practicing kicks. An hour later he dismisses me, I head back to the dorms and shower before falling asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello, everyone! Sorry this is late. I started re-reading what I had already written and then noticed that I had left out a couple words in some sentences and that sometimes I changed tense so I went back and edited the last six chapters. The information in them hasn't changed but the formatting has, so no reason to go back and re-read unless you just really like this story. I'd like to thank foreverellen, Raynacch SilverMoon, Xassiopea, koipond-tea, ThisIsSoCool, HermioneSnape4eva, and TrueColorsNeverFade for reviewing. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please Review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

As usual, I'm the first one up and out of the room. Since we don't have training today, I go straight to the cafeteria, which is mainly empty. I take a seat at an empty table and pick at a muffin. Soon, Tobias joins me.

"Morning," I say.

"Morning."

I'm not quite sure what to say to him; it's been two years since we even had an average conversation and I'm unsure what would be appropriate for me to say. It's noticeable that Tobias is having the same problem, as he keeps opening his mouth to say something before closing it. Taking a bite out of my food, I rack my brain for something to say.

"_So_ . . ." I trail off.

"Yeah?"

"So, I noticed yesterday that you stepped out when Peter and Tris were fighting."

"And?"

"And, you didn't step out for anyone else," I pause before saying, "Do you like her?"

He quickly replies, "No."

"You're lying," I state, grinning.

"She's an initiate, and she isn't the best at fighting."

My smile instantly falls and I ask, "So, you don't think Tris can make it past Stage One? She's done well. I mean, yeah she lost to Peter but he's one of the best in the class."

"It could go either way right now. Even if she does make it past Stage One, she's _still_ an initiate."

"So? It's not like you're going to announce it to everyone. And I'm an initiate too, and you and I are allowed to talk outside of training. No one has to know you like her like _that_."

"You're not my initiate; you're _Eric's_."

"Oh, come on, he's not _that_ bad." Tobias raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "Okay, so he's sort of bad, but he's been helping me."

"He's _using_ you to help himself."

"I know that, but-"

"_No_, you've got to be careful around him Liss; especially during Stage Two."

Something in his tone makes me pause and before I can ask what "Stage Two" is, Zeke comes and sits down next to Tobias.

"Hey," he says to both of us.

"Hey," I reply while standing up, "I'm gonna go find Will."

"Liss, can we finish talking after dinner?"

"I'm supposed to meet with Eric, but I can go to your room after."

He clenches his fist when I mention Eric but agrees.

Once I exit the cafeteria, I decide to head to the roof rather than finding Will. I walk through the Pit weaving my way in and out through clusters of people; it's then that I spot Eric and Max. Eric catches my eye and motions for me to join them and I do so reluctantly.

"Hey," I state awkwardly.

"Max, this is Liss. Liss, this is Max."

Max nods at me and I say, "It's nice to meet you."

"I was informing him of how your training was going," Eric claims, looking at me expectantly.

"Eric's been a great teacher so far, I don't think I could have won my fight yesterday without him."

"I'm more interested in how you won your _first_ fight. What made you think to use someone's pressure point?"

"Oh. Well, I mean, there weren't any rules. I was told the fight would end when one of us couldn't continue. I didn't want to seriously hurt anyone, and I don't think that the point of Stage One is to necessarily teach us how to harm someone."

"Oh?" Max questions.

I swallow and dig my nails into the palms of my hand, out of nervousness. Eric is watching me closely and I can tell he's irritated that I couldn't corporate without making things complicated.

"Well, part of it is, but I think it's not just about showing that you're _courageous_. It's showing that you know what to do with bravery, that you aren't just charging into something to prove a point. In order to be brave, to me, it means that you have to be intelligent and honest and selfless, and I guess I might as well throw kind in there too. You have to be honest with yourself about why you're being brave and you have to be smart because running out unprepared will most likely get you killed. You have to put others in front of yourself generally and that's kind and selfless."

We all stare at each other for a moment, and I suddenly wish I had listened to Tobias when he told me to be careful, non-Divergents don't think this way.

"Haven't heard anything like that before, but you're right. It's about teaching you what to do if you need to take action. We could use more people like you in Dauntless."

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding and Max checks his watch.

"Thanks," I reply.

"I've got a meeting, Eric be at my office by three. Nice meeting you, Liss," Max conveys before walking off.

After a few seconds I say, "You're welcome."

"For _what_?"

"He liked me. That helps you, doesn't it?"

"You almost blew it with your speech," he spits out.

I feel an overwhelming amount of rage seep into me. _How dare he? I go out of my way to help him and then, when things go right, he gets angry because I didn't follow his stupid script._

"He _liked_ the speech. I was just being myself. And, _maybe_, if you thought like that, he might stop trying to offer _Four_ your job."

His eyes flash and I step back when I see his hands curl up into fists. However, he doesn't hit me just seethes silently. I had hit the nerve that I was aiming for, but I was already beginning to feel slightly guilty for saying it. Before I can decide if I want to take it back or not, Eric turns on his heel and storms out of the Pit.

* * *

"What do you think is out there?" Christina questions. "I mean, beyond the fence."

I'm sitting on the floor of the train next to Will, trying to keep my mind from wandering back to my conversation with Eric.

"A bunch of farms, I guess," Tris answers and I notice her eyes flicker over to Tobias.

"Yeah, but I mean . . . past the farms. What are we guarding the city from?" Christina continues, then she turns to Tris and says, "Monsters!" while wiggling her fingers.

"We didn't even have guards near the fence until five years ago. Don't you remember when Dauntless police used to patrol the factionless sector?" Will says.

"Yes," Tris and I say simultaneously.

"Oh, right. I bet you guys saw them all the time," Will replies.

"Why do you say that?" Tris asks, sharply.

"Because you had to pass the factionless sector to get to school, right?"

"What did you do, memorize a map of the city for fun?" Christina teases.

"Yes. Didn't you?"

Will appears so puzzled at Christina's question that I can't help but laugh while the train comes to a halt. I jump out of the car, and look around. A barbed wire fence stretches across the land; behind the fence the only thing that's visible are trees. Several Dauntless are sprawled out around the fence, carrying guns.

"Follow me," Tobias orders.

We walk till we reach the road that continues on underneath the gate, which I notice locks from the outside.

"If you don't rank in the top five at the end of initiation, you will probably end up here. Once you are a fence guard, there is some potential for advancement, but not much. You may be able to go on patrols beyond Amity's farms, but-"

"Patrols for what purpose?" Will pipes up.

"I suppose you'll discover that if you find yourself among them. As I was saying. For the most part, those who guard the fence when they are young continue to guard the fence. If it comforts you, some of them insist that it isn't as bad as it seems."

"What rank were you?" Peter asks.

"I was first," Tobias answers.

"Why didn't you get a government job?" Peter continues.

"I didn't want one."

The rest of the trip passes by uneventfully and soon we're headed back to the Dauntless compound.

* * *

At a quarter to eight I head to the training room, unsure if Eric will even show. I start up on one of the punching bags; however, I have difficulty keeping my attention on fighting, and my eyes begin to flicker to the door every couple seconds. When Eric finally does arrive, it's well past eight and my punching bag is swinging from the force of each punch I attack it with.

As he approaches me, I stop and say, "I didn't think you'd show. I wanted to apologize, for what I said. I didn't mean it."

"Yeah, you did. You don't have to apologize; I need you to win your next fight, so I'm going to continue training you. Now go, I haven't got all day."

The anger from earlier returns and I turn to the punching bag and hit it with as much force as I can muster over and over while replying,

"I'm not apologizing so that you'll train me. I'm doing it, because I mean it."

I kick the bag and it swings out again; then I turn to Eric.

"I know, I shouldn't have said what I did to Max. I'm aware that _every time_ I do the opposite of what you say, I end up screwing things up. So, when I apologized, I wasn't doing it for my own benefit."

He nods and I take that as him accepting my apology. It's only now that I realize that I'm less than half a foot away from him.

"You're doing better," he pauses, "If we can get you this angry before your last fight, you'll win for sure."

"_What_?" I ask.

"When you punch the bag, it usually only swings a bit, but since I've walked in, it's been swaying almost every time you hit it."

He grabs my shoulder and turns me around so that I'm facing the bag again then gently pushes me towards it.

I swing my arm forward, but even before it hits I know it's not forceful enough.

"No, not like that. Get that anger back, from what I've seen, you have a lot to be angry about."

I'm curious as to what he means by that but let it slide. Instead, I imagine Marcus there, I think of everything that he's done to Tobias and I, how it's his fault that I'm here and he's the reason I grew up without a mom.

This time when my fist collides with the bag it sways slightly and I can see Eric smirk out of the corner of my eye.

He has me continue practicing till almost ten and when he dismisses me, I feel lighter as if some of my anger that's been stored for years has been let out.

"Oh, shoot," I say as we exit the training room.

"What?" Eric inquires, raising an eyebrow.

"I told Four that I'd meet him in his room after we finished, but I still don't know where his room is."

Eric's lips twitch upwards slightly before he says, "I'll take you."

"Really?"

"Come on," he states already walking off.

I scurry after him.

"How do you know where he lives?"

"We were in the same initiate class, so our rooms are near each other."

"You transferred from Erudite," I claim. "Four told me."

He rolls his eyes before asking, "What else has _Four_ said about me?"

I shrug. "Not much, we haven't really talked but from what I have seen, you're not exactly his favorite topic."

However, as I mentally flip through all of my conversations with Tobias, I notice that Eric has been mentioned in almost all of them. After three more turns, Eric stops in front of a plain black door, then knocks. We stand in silence for a moment before I say,

"Thanks."

"No problem," he replies before placing a hand on my shoulder. "You did well today, Liss."

The door swings open and I rip my eyes from Eric's. I take a step back, making Eric's hand fall. Tobias and Eric glare at each other for a moment, and I clear my throat.

"So, uh, yeah. Thanks again," I say stepping towards Tobias.

They both look towards me and I push Tobias back so that I can get into the room. Nodding towards Eric, I close the door.

"Gosh, you two act like you're five."

"I'm just looking out for you."

"Well, thanks but I can look out for myself." Tobias looks at me doubtfully. "I _can_, he's not trying to hurt me. If he was, wouldn't he have done something by now?"

He looks like he wants to say something else, but instead he nods stiffly. His room is spacious; a large bed with a blue quilt sits in the middle, a small kitchen is in one corner and an open door on the other side of the room leads to a bathroom. The words "Fear God Alone" are spray painted on one of the white walls.

"Thirsty?" he questions.

I nod and we both walk to the kitchen. I sit down on one of the four chairs surrounding a dining table as he fills a glass of water. He hands me the glass then takes the seat opposite of me. After a moment of silence he says,

"What happened when I left?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"When I switched factions. What happened?"

I can see a slight amount of guilt in his eyes and I look down at my hands.

"Nothing. Well . . . not _nothing_. But things stayed the same. Marcus was still . . ." I trail off. "Can we just not talk about this? I mean, it won't change anything. It won't make things better, and I meant it when I said I don't blame you. He would have continued even if you had stayed. I . . . I want to get over it. I want to quit feeling like _he's_ controlling my life. I'm _out_, I can make my own choices now and I shouldn't have to worry about what _he_ thinks."

"I'm sorry Liss."

"_No_! Stop saying you're sorry. If anyone should be sorry, it should be him. I _hate_ him."

"Yeah, I'd like nothing more than to put a bullet in his head for doing what he did to us."

"Me too."

We exchange a glance and I smile slightly, glad to have finally gotten that out. Then I lean back in my chair and say,

"Earlier, you said to be careful during Stage Two. Why?"

"You're Divergent, right?" I nod. "Stage Two is a simulation, or several simulations. It's easy to pick out the Divergents. The leaders, including Eric, will be paying close attention, trying to spot any Divergents and if they find you, they will kill you. My instructor, Amar, was Divergent and he knew I was too. They killed him, a week after my initiation was over."

"Do you think it was Eric?" I ask, and for some reason I'm filled with a desperate desire for him to say, "no" that he doesn't believe that Eric did it.

"There's no proof, but he's not going to go out of his way to protect you. He'd rather get rid of you, they think Divergents threaten the system. From what I've seen, Eric will do a lot in order to keep his job title safe. "

I think about my speech that I had given Max earlier and dread fills my stomach. He'll most likely be keeping an eye on me from now on.

"Okay," I say. "I'll be more careful."

"You should go back to your dorm. It's late and you'll have to be up extra early tomorrow."

I nod and hug Tobias tightly before leaving.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello, everyone! I'd like to thank foreverellen, TrueColorsNeverFade, and koipond-tea for reviewing! Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. Please, review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

A man with short black hair dressed in Dauntless clothing stands in the middle of the cafeteria. Beside him is Tobias; Eric and Max stand before them. The other Dauntless make a circle around them. All around me people are talking, their conversation is slurred together, but I'm able to make out one word, Divergent. I watch as Max approaches the unknown Dauntless man and presses a gun to his temple.

I'm frozen, watching in horror as Max squeezes the trigger. The man's body falls and his blood splatters across the floor. There's an explosion of applause while Max approaches Tobias. I try to run forward, but I can't move my legs. He pushes him onto his knees and when he thrusts the gun onto Tobias' temple, I start yelling and thrashing about; however, no one notices my outburst.

Max squeezes the trigger once again, and I watch Tobias go limp as a mixture of blood and brain pours out onto the floor. A high pitched shrieking fills my ears and it takes me a moment to realize, that I'm the one creating the noise. The crowd roars louder than before as Max shoves the gun into Eric's hands. Eric then turns towards me and aligns the gun. He hesitates and Max says,

"All Divergents must be eradicated."

Eric nods and mouths, 'I'm sorry' to me before pulling the trigger.

* * *

I wake to the sound of the door being thrown open and multiple footsteps. The beam from several flashlights covers the room and I hear Eric shout,

"Everybody up!"

I groan, pushing all thoughts of my dream out of my head, before getting up and dressing myself.

"Did you go deaf, Stiff?" Eric barks at Tris, who is still lying in her bed. "You have five minutes to get dressed and meet us by the tracks. We're going on another field trip."

I slip into my shoes before sprinting out of the room and to the roof. Numerous guns are stacked in a pile next to boxes that say "PAINTBALLS" on them.

"Everyone grab a gun!" Eric orders.

I comply and stuff a box of ammunition in my pocket.

"Time estimate?" he asks Tobias.

"Any minute now. How long is it going to take you to memorize the train schedule?"

"Why should I, when I have you to remind me of it?"

I see the train in my peripheral vision and prepare myself to jump on. Four makes it on first and helps Tris get in. I jump in after her and move out of the doorway. Once everyone is on Tobias starts speaking,

"We'll be dividing into two teams to play capture the flag. Each team will have an even mix of members, Dauntless-born initiates, and transfers. One team will get off first and find a place to hide their flag. Then the second team will get off and do the same. This is Dauntless tradition, so I suggest you take it seriously."

"What do we get if we win?" someone shouts.

"Sounds like the sort of question someone not from Dauntless would ask. You get to win, of course."

"Four and I will be your team captains. Let's divide the transfers first, shall we?" Eric says.

"You go first."

Eric's eyes flicker between Edward, Peter, and me. "Edward."

"Tris."

Laughter fills the car.

"Got something to prove? Or are you just picking the weak ones so that if you lose, you'll have someone to blame it on?" Eric retorts.

"Something like that. Your turn."

"Peter."

"Liss."

Eric grits his teeth in annoyance. "Molly."

"Will."

"Al."

"Drew."

"Last one left is Myra. So she's with me. "

Once they finish divvying up the rest of the group Eric speaks,

"Your team can get off second."

"Don't do me any favors. You know I don't need them to win."

"No, I know you'll lose no matter when you get off. Take your scrawny team and get off first, then."

I stand, along with the rest of Four's team and jump out of the car. We all gather around Tobias and a Dauntless-born initiate places her hand on his arm and asks,

"When you're team won, where did you put the flag?"

"Telling you wouldn't exactly be in the spirit of the exercise, Marlene," he replies pushing her hand off.

"Come on, Four," she whines, throwing out a flirtatious smile.

"Navy pier," Uriah says. "My brother was on the winning team. They kept the flag at the carousel."

"Let's go there, then," Will suggests.

When no one objects, we start walking east.

"We're close to Erudite headquarters, right?" Christina questions bumping her shoulder with Will's.

"Yeah. It's south of here," Will responds.

When we finally reach the Ferris wheel Will says,

"Think about it. People used to ride that thing. For _fun_."

"I wish it was still open," I respond.

"Me too," Will agrees.

"They must have been Dauntless," Tris states.

"Yeah, but a lame version of Dauntless. A Dauntless Ferris wheel wouldn't' have cars. You would just hang on tight with your hands, and good luck to you," Christina adds in.

We walk along the pier, and I see several vacant buildings run parallel to it.

"Dare you to jump into the marsh," says Christina to Will.

"You first."

When we reach a battered down carousel Tobias takes the flag out of his pocket.

"In ten minutes the other team will pick their location. I suggest you take this time to formulate a strategy. We may not be Erudite, but mental preparedness is one aspect of your Dauntless training. Arguably, it is the most important aspect."

"Some people should stay here and guard, and some people should go out and scout the other team's location," claims Will.

"Yeah? You think? Who put you in charge, transfer?" Marlene questions.

"No one, but someone's got to do it."

"Maybe we should develop a more defensive strategy. Wait for them to come to us, then take them out," Christina offers.

"That's the sissy way out," Uriah calls out. "I vote we go all out. Hide the flag well enough that they can't find it."

I roll my eyes as the bickering continues and sit down next to Tobias on the carousel. Out of the corner of my eye I see someone move. I turn my head and see Tris making her way to the Ferris wheel. I nudge Tobias with my elbow and tilt my head in Tris' direction.

"Go," I urge him. "I'll take care of the rest of the team."

Once he's at least a hundred feet away, I stand up.

"Hey!" I shout trying to catch everyone's attention. When no one stops what they're doing, I whistle. It's loud enough to get everyone to stop and some even cover their ears, but Tobias who's now at the base of Ferris wheel doesn't hear it.

"Thank you. Standing around here shouting at each other will only make us lose. Christina, you wanted everyone to stay here. Uriah, you wanted everyone to go look for the other flag. We compromise and go with Will's decision. Now, we split into two groups. If you're fast stand over here," I say, pointing to my left, "and if your aim is accurate stand over here," I finish pointing to my right.

They all comply, a few open their mouths to complain, but my glare stops them. Behind me, I hear the Ferris wheel turn on. Choosing to ignore it, I split the two groups into four. Then I pick a group of fast runners and a group of people with accurate aim and tell them to spread out and to make sure that no one gets past a certain perimeter.

"What about the rest of us?" questions Marlene.

"Just wait a second," I say as I watch Tobias and Tris run towards us.

"Where'd the others go?" Tobias inquires.

Before I can answer an older Dauntless says, "Did you guys turn on the wheel? What the hell are you thinking? You might as well have just shouted 'Here we are! Come and get us!' If I lose again this year, the shame will be unbearable. Three years in a row?"

"The wheel doesn't matter. We know where they are."

"We?" Christina says, her eyes flickering from Tobias to Tris.

"Yes, while the rest of you were twiddling your thumbs, Tris climbed the Ferris wheel to look for the other team."

"What do we do now, then?" asks a Dauntless-born.

"Split in half," Tris instructs. "Four of us go to the right side of the pier, four to the left. The other team is in the park at the end of the pier, so the group on the right will charge, as the group on the left sneaks behind the other team to get the flag."

"Sounds good. Let's get this night over with, shall we?" states the older girl.

Tris, Christina, Uriah and I go to the left. We sprint till the end of the pier, then slowdown in order to make less noise. I concentrate on trying not to breathe too loudly as we jog towards the spot where a light is blinking.

A chorus of shouts and shrieks start up and I sprint, clutching my gun. Most of the guards have already been drawn out, but two remain. I lift my gun and shoot, hitting a boy with a lip ring, and I notice Uriah hit the other guard, a girl with purple hair.

I stop sprinting, as does Uriah, instead we both start shooting at anyone who threatens to hit either Tris or Christina, who are going for the flag. I fire off three shots each of them hitting their intended target.

I'm about to fire at another guy approaching Tris and Christina, who are now jumping for the flag, when I see someone about to shoot Uriah from the back. I squeeze the trigger and then lunge at Uriah. We tumble down and the paintball flies over us.

I hear a whoop from behind us and I roll off of him to see Christina waving the flag around. I laugh and give out a whoop, as does Uriah.

"Thanks," Uriah tells me as we both stand.

"Anytime," I say before running off to join our celebrating group.

* * *

We're back in the original training room today. Instead of guns, knives are spread out along a table. Eric stands in the middle of the room, his posture is rigid, and he looks pissed. Today the room is silent as we all pile in.

"Tomorrow will be the last day of Stage One. You will resume fighting then. Today, you'll be learning how to aim. Everyone pick up three knives. And pay attention while Four demonstrates the correct technique for throwing them," Eric instructs his voice sounding rougher than usual.

"Now!" he barks when no one moves.

Everyone rushes forward, and I grab three daggers quickly before falling back into line. As soon as everyone stops moving Tobias begins. He plants his feet before turning the knife over in his hand and throwing it. Unsurprisingly, it hits the center. He does this two more times and I notice that he times his moves with his breathing.

"Line up!" Eric orders.

I tuck two of my knives into one of my pockets and toss the other one between my hands trying to test the weight. It's much lighter than the guns and I realize that I need to loosen up before throwing it, since there will be no recoil. It won't travel as fast since I'll be throwing it, so I'll have to start from a higher point rather than align it with the target.

I plant my feet and turn the knife over in my hand like Tobias had. As I inhale I lift the knife and when I exhale I throw it with a harsh flick of my wrist. It spins before hitting the outermost circle on the target and sticking. When I look around, I see that I'm the first to get their knife in the board.

"I think the Stiff's taken too many hits to the head!" Peter shouts. "Hey, Stiff! Remember what a _knife_ is?"

I look over at Tris, who has been practicing the motions; this time when she brings her knife up, she throws it. It spins and hits the board, however it doesn't stick.

"Hey Peter," Tris calls out. "Remember what a _target_ is?"

I laugh and throw my next knife. A half hour later, Al is the only who hasn't hit the target. My eyes wander over to where he's standing, his arm is too loose and when he throws his next dagger it collides with the wall, rather than the target. Eric moves behind him as I turn my knife over in my hand. When Al throws again and misses, it's obvious that Eric has had enough.

"How slow _are_ you, Candor? Do you need glasses? Should I move the target closer to you?"

Al blushes a deep red before clumsily throwing his next knife.

"What was that, initiate?" Eric questions, stepping closer to Al.

I swallow and avert my eyes; I don't want to watch Eric be cruel to Al.

"It-it slipped," Al provides as an excuse.

"Well, I think you should go get it," Eric says, and everyone stops throwing. "Did I tell you to stop?"

I squeeze my hands into fists before throwing my next knife.

"Go get it? But everyone's still throwing."

"And?"

"And I don't want to get hit."

Dread fills my stomachs as I throw my next dagger.

"I think you can trust your fellow initiates to aim better than you. Go get your knife," Eric orders and when I look over at them I see that he's smiling.

"No."

"Why not? Are you afraid?"

"Of getting stabbed by an airborne knife? Yes, I am!" Al exclaims.

I can't help but think that he would have been better off going to get his knives then standing up to Eric.

"Everyone stop! Clear out the ring. All except you," he states looking at Al.

I tighten my grip on my last dagger before doing as told, stepping to the edge of the room.

"Stand in front of the target," Eric instructs.

Al complies shaking slightly and I have to bite down on my lip in order to keep my mouth shut. If it was another time, I might have already spoken up, but I had told Tobias yesterday that I'd be more careful.

"Hey, Four. Give me a hand here. You're going to stand there as he throws those knives until you learn not to flinch."

"Is this really necessary?" inquires Tobias.

"I have the authority here, remember? Here, and everywhere else."

Tobias flushes slightly and his knuckles turn white as his grip on the knives tightens.

"Stop it," Tris orders. "Any idiot can stand in front of a target. It doesn't prove anything except that you're bullying us. Which, as I recall, is a sign of _cowardice_."

I wince at her last sentence. Standing up to Eric would have been fine, but calling him a coward, there was no way he was going to let her out without a scratch.

"Then it should be easy for you. If you're willing to take his place."

Tris walks forward proudly before stopping in front of the target.

"If you flinch, Al takes your place. Understand?" Tobias says.

Tris nods and stares directly at Tobias as he throws his first knife, it lands half a foot away from her cheek. When she closes her eyes Four says,

"You about done, Stiff?"

"No."

"Eyes open, then."

She stays still as he throws his next knife, this one lands centimeters from the top of her head.

"Come on, Stiff. Let someone else stand there and take it."

It then occurs to me that Tobias is trying to use her selflessness to get her to stay up there. Tris however, doesn't reach this revelation, for she shouts,

"Shut _up_, Four!"

This time his knife lands next to her ear, ripping some of the skin off in the process.

"I would love to stay and see if the rest of you are as daring as she is, but I think that's enough for today," Eric says and we all scurry out of the room.

* * *

I arrive at the training room half an hour early, as usual and start up on the punching bag. When Eric arrives, we exchange greetings and I continue to focus on practicing. After a while, we stop for a water break, but before I can return to my punching bag he calls me over to the center of the room.

"Yeah?" I ask when I'm about a foot away from him.

"We're going to fight."

"We're going to _what_?" I ask in disbelief.

"Fight, come on." When he notices my dubious look he continues, "The punching bag isn't working, it doesn't fight back. You need real practice."

"So, just to be clear, if I hit you, it's fine?"

"Yes," he says exasperated.

I shrug, but go with it. We circle each other for a moment before I lunge forward and fake punching left, when he goes to block it, he leaves his stomach exposed and I redirect the blow there. He grits his teeth and throws a punch at my face. I manage to just barely block it and then I take a swing at his jaw in retaliation. He's able to block it easily and sends a blow at my jaw, he hits it dead on.

Pain ripples through my body and I quickly block his next punch before sending one at his jaw again. It hits and he stumbles back, surprised. I kick my foot into his stomach and he doubles over for a moment before quickly straightening out and punching me in my stomach. I take a step back, but he grabs my arm and tries to send another blow to my face. I duck and spin, twisting his arm slightly, he lets go; his stomach is now up against my back. He grips one of my arms and tries to spin me around but I send my elbow back into his nose.

His grip loosens and I'm able to free myself and turn back around. He wastes no time in kicking my stomach, this time I fall. When he steps closer to me, I sweep his feet out from underneath him and he topples to the ground beside me. I quickly raise myself so that I'm above him and send a forceful punch to his right cheek. He groans before flipping us over, then he pins my hands above my head. I try to wiggle my way out from underneath him, but it's a lost cause.

Once I stop moving he loosens his grip and slides off of me. My wrists tingle slightly from where he was holding them, but it's not a bad feeling.

"That was good," he tells me, lying down beside me. "But you need to work on covering your jaw and not falling on the floor."

"Thanks," I reply, panting slightly.

"As long as you don't let your guard down, you should be able to win tomorrow."

"Yeah?" I ask turning to look at him.

"Yeah."


	9. Chapter 9

Hello, everyone! I'd like to thank Raynacch SilverMoon, TrueColorsNeverFade, and Guest for reviewing. Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

It's the day before Visiting Day. I'm sitting in the training room with Will, Christina, and Al when Tris strides in looking agitated.

"Hey, where were you this morning?" Christina questions, as Tris approaches us.

"I got held up," Tris says, not tearing her eyes from the chalkboard.

"You okay, Tris? You look a little . . ." says Al.

"A little what?" Tris snaps.

"On edge."

Tris doesn't respond, but I see her lips twitch upwards at the board and I turn to read it.

Christina & Al

Myra & Will

Edward & Drew

Peter & Liss

Tris & Molly

Anxiety fills me up, Peter's good and brutal. So far, only Edward had been able to beat him. Tris seems far too pleased to be fighting Molly. I look over to where Peter, Drew, and Molly are standing; they're all staring at Tris and giggling. I'm tempted to ask Tris what happened, but since she hadn't already mentioned it, I assume she doesn't want to talk about it.

"Good luck, Liss," Will says to me.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it."

"Go easy on me, okay?" Al tells Christina.

"I make no promises."

Christina and Al's fight passes by quickly; Al falls down after Christina gets in a few punches. Will beats Myra easily and Edward has Drew unconscious within a minute. I stand and move towards the rink slowly, trying to go over everything Eric has taught me. My eyes wander over to where Eric is standing, watching me intently. I take into consideration that Eric wouldn't have paired me with Peter if he didn't think that I could win; at that thought confidence surges through me.

I wave away my nervousness and replace it with determination. I have the least amount of hesitance in fighting Peter; he's a bully and a coward. When I'm a couple of feet away from Peter, I stop and get into a defense position.

He makes the first move, sending a blow at my stomach. I block it, and retaliate with a punch to his jaw that he blocks. He goes for my jaw and I barely block it before sending a blow at his nose. It's a dance between us: punch, block, punch, block, punch, block. Feeling frustrated, I kick my leg out at his stomach, this time I make contact and he stumbles slightly. My triumph doesn't last long as his fist connects with my cheek.

Biting my lip I send a jab at his jaw, he's too slow this time and doesn't manage to block it. I quickly send another punch into his stomach. He shoves me away then sends his foot into my stomach. My breath is knocked out of my body and before I can react, he swipes my feet out from underneath me. I'm still and silent as he delivers another kick to my stomach.

The way he holds himself above me reminds me of Marcus. Suddenly, it doesn't seem as if it's Peter standing above me, but Marcus. My eyes water slightly when he sends a kick to my nose, and blood splatters across my face and onto the floor while my breathing becomes ragged. I'm reminded of all the times Marcus punched or kicked me. I could never fight back because I didn't know how, and what would the other Abnegation have thought. No one would have believed that Marcus abused Tobias and I, but Peter isn't Marcus and I can fight back.

I roll to the side feeling enraged. However, before I can stand up Peter slams his foot down on my left arm. I feel my bones shift and white hot pain courses through me. A different anger than the one from before surges through me, and I stand pushing the pain out of my mind.

I use my right hand to punch Peter in the jaw. He wobbles back and I send a kick at his stomach. When he falls down I waste no time in sending a series of kicks at his stomach and face. Blood sprays from his nose when my foot comes into contact with it. The room is spinning and I take a step back from Peter, who lies motionless on the ground. My breathing is strained and comes out in harsh huffs while my legs crumble beneath me.

I catch myself with my good hand and settle on my hands and knees. My throat feels clogged and I cough into my left hand, wincing when I feel the bone shift. When I pull my hand away I see that it's covered in blood. The pain from before returns and I hiss between my teeth. A pair of hands turn me around and lift me off the floor. I expect it to be Tobias or Will helping me, but instead it's Eric. I fight to keep my eyes open as he carries me out of the room. His mouth is moving, but I can't hear what he's saying. Finally, the strain to keep my eyes open becomes too much and I allow the darkness to consume me.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of beeping and I struggle in opening up my eyes. When I do finally get them both open I end up shutting them immediately due to the blinding light.

"Liss?" a muffled voice asks.

I open my eyes slower this time and let them adjust. I'm lying on a hospital bed, an IV is connected to my right arm, and I notice that my left arm is already wrapped in a black cast; two tubes are in my nostrils, giving me oxygen. Tobias sits in a chair on my right, watching me intently.

"Hey," I rasp out, before falling into a coughing fit.

"Here," he says, handing me a glass of water.

I take a few sips before asking, "What happened?"

"Well after you beat Peter, you collapsed and Eric carried you here. That was about three hours ago. Peter broke your nose and arm. The nurse gave you some medication before they set your arm and nose."

"Please, say Peter looks worse than I do," I say.

The corners of his lips twitch up. "Yeah, you broke his nose and three ribs."

"Good, he deserved it."

"He deserves worse."

"Maybe," I say, as a nurse comes in.

"Oh, good you're up! How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I reply, which isn't a huge lie. I'm on too much pain medication to feel much of anything. "When can I leave?"

She purses her lips while checking the machines around me and writing stuff down.

"We usually make our patients stay overnight, but when I checked your medical records it showed that you've had broken bones before. Your vitals are fine, so as long as you promise you'll come back tonight before you go to bed and after you wake up tomorrow morning, then you can leave now."

"Yeah, I promise."

She starts unhooking the wires that are attached to me, while saying, "Okay, if you have trouble breathing or the pain becomes too much just come back here and we'll take care of it."

I nod and when she leaves I slide off the bed. However, my legs are like noodles and they slip out from under me. Tobias catches me and pulls me back to a standing point.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I say, before taking a hesitant step forward. This time I don't fall, but just to be sure that I won't slip again, I take a few more.

"Will's waiting out in the lobby area. I'm supposed to be working; will you be okay with him?"

I nod. "I've broken bones before. Now go, do your job. We can talk tomorrow."

"Okay," he says, as he steps forward and embraces me.

I hug him back tightly, and when I step back I smile. "I'll see you later."

"See you later," he responds, looking reluctant about leaving me. "If you need me, just ask any of the other Dauntless to come get me, alright?"

"Alright," I agree.

He looks over me one last time, before turning and walking away. I wait till he's out of sight before walking the other way towards the lobby. As soon as I enter Will rushes towards me and pulls me into a hug.

"Oh!" I say, surprised.

When he pulls back, he ruffles my hair up.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Of course." I lift up my cast before saying, "See, I'm all fixed."

"Peter's lucky you already put him in the hospital. Otherwise I would have."

"It's fine," I state. "Fighting was part of initiation; everyone got hurt."

"It's not fine. No one else broke their arm. He crossed a line," he retorts. "Now, let's go join the other's for dinner. They were waiting earlier, but once it reached seven, I told them to go and if you woke I'd let them know."

On the way down to dinner Will tells me about how bones heal and when we arrive at the cafeteria I'm pleased to see that Peter isn't there.

* * *

When dinner's over I part from my friends. I walk around aimlessly, at least I intend to, over time I realize that I'm on the path to the training room. I have no reason to go, my training sessions with Eric are over, and it's not like I could fight if I wanted to, but I continue anyway. Stepping into the training room, I'm surprised to see Eric.

He's facing away from me and beating up a punching bag. His punches are forceful and the bag swings back in forth. I walk towards him; if he knows I'm here he doesn't show it. I continue to silent observe him before asking,

"Angry? Or did you go easy on me yesterday?"

He spins around towards me, looking surprised, and then says, "The first. Shouldn't you be in the hospital?"

"They let me leave. I just have to check in tonight and in the morning."

He nods and silence hangs between us. After a few seconds I can't take it and I blurt out,

"I'm sorry."

His eyebrows pull together. "Why?"

I look down at my hands before saying, "Well, I mean you paired me with Peter because you thought I could beat him, and then I almost screwed everything up. I almost lost and he still beat me up pretty bad, so doesn't that give him points too? You thought I was better than I actually am and I'm just sorry. I didn't mean to disappoint you, again."

"Liss, I'm not mad at you," he responds lifting my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"But, you said you were angry. Why else would you be angry?" I reply, my eyes searching his as he drops his hand so that it's resting on my shoulder now.

He appears to be struggling to find the right words before he says, "I am angry. Just not at you."

I nod. "Is it alright if I stay?"

"I'll get a chair," he says.

Instead of lifting his hand off my shoulder, he runs it down my arm and when he reaches my cast I see his eyes harden. I shiver slightly and he turns away and walks off. My arm tingles and my skin feels like it's burning, but not in an unpleasant way. I'm suddenly filled with an odd desire for his skin to be in contact with mine again. When he returns with the chair I bump my hand into his; he doesn't say anything about it, so neither do I.

He returns to the punching bag and starts at it again. The way he fights makes it obvious that he's from Erudite. His stance looks like it was copied from a textbook and even though he's only fighting a bag; I can see his cold grey eyes calculate each move based on the way it swings. When he finishes an hour later, I'm attempting to stifle a yawn.

"You still have to go to the hospital, right?" Eric questions as we walk out.

"Yeah, why?"

"I'll take you."

I'm about to protest and say that I'm fine, when he places his hand on my lower back and ushers me forward, and my will crumbles. After we turn a few corners I ask,

"Why'd you switch factions?"

He doesn't stop moving but he stiffens slightly and I quickly backtrack.

"Never mind, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's fine. I wanted to get out of Erudite; I didn't fit in there."

I'm tempted to ask him to elaborate, but I figure I shouldn't push my luck.

"Why'd you switch?" he asks.

I don't want to tell him about Marcus, so I settle for saying, "I was suffocating."

He lets me leave it at that and when we reach the hospital, he stays and waits for the nurse to dismiss me before walking me almost all the way to the dormitory.

"You did well today," he says so quietly that I have to lean forward to hear. "If Peter gives you any trouble, let me know."

"Okay," I breathe out.

"Goodnight, Liss."

"Goodnight, Eric," I reply, before turning around and walking the rest of the way to the dorm.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey, everyone! I probably won't be able to get a chapter up tomorrow but there will definitely be a new one on Thursday. I'd like to thank One Smart Waffle, foreverellen, TrueColorsNeverFade, HermioneSnape4eva, and Raynacch SilverMoon for reviewing. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

I wake later than usual and shower quickly. When I finish getting ready, I plop down on my bed, and stare at the ceiling trying to decide what to do today. It's Visiting Day, Marcus won't come which I'm grateful for; so I have the whole day for myself. The door to the dormitory opens and in walks Eric; all those who are getting ready freeze and turn to look at him.

"Attention! I want to give you some advice about today. If by some miracle your families do come to visit you, which I doubt, it is best not to seem too attached. That will make it easier for you, and easier for them. We also take the phrase 'faction before blood' very seriously here. Attachment to your family, suggests you aren't entirely pleased with your faction, which would be _shameful_. Understand?"

I continue to lie in bed as everyone else shuffles out and I notice Eric stop Tris. He tells her something and she grimaces before leaving. Once it's just Eric and I, he approaches me.

"You go to the nurse yet?"

"No, I'll go in a couple minutes."

He sits down on my bed and looks over me. "Aren't you going to check if your parents came?"

I shake my head as I move into a sitting position. "Mom's dead and if _Marcus_ shows up, which is unlikely, I'll shove him into the chasm."

I assume that Eric has some suspicions about Marcus; he was in the same initiate class as Tobias and the articles that had accused Marcus of abuse before were from Erudite, his old faction.

"Do you know if Four's working today?" I ask.

"I don't keep track of everywhere your brother goes," he snaps.

"So, no?"

He rolls his eyes before saying, "He usually works every day, he doesn't have morning shifts often though."

"Guess I should go find him," I say, sliding off the bed. "What are you doing today?"

"I have a meeting with Max, then during dinner your brother and I will be going over ranks."

"We get them today?" I ask, biting my lip.

"You'll do fine," he reassures me.

"I should get to the hospital," I say, taking a step back. "See you later?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later."

After I go to the hospital and get pain medication, I head to the Pit. Upon entering Will waves me over to where he is standing with a young woman who has the same golden hair and creased eyes.

"Hey," I greet.

"Liss, I want you to meet my sister Cara. Cara, this is Liss," Will claims.

Cara doesn't bother to attempt shaking my hand, instead she glares at me.

"Hi," I say, trying not to be rude. Then I turn to Will and ask, "Have you seen Four?"

"No, sorry."

"Do you even know who _she_ is, Will?" Cara questions. "She's the _Abnegation leader's daughter_."

Whatever self-control I had disappears and I grab her elbow with my right arm and yank her closer to me.

"Don't. _Ever_. Call. Me. That. We may have the same blood, but I'm not his daughter."

"Liss _stop_," Will says, pulling at arm.

I release my grip on Cara and step back, shaking slightly. Will looks alarmed, as does Cara.

"I have to go," I tell them, before turning and walking away.

I shouldn't have blown up, but being referred to as _Marcus' daughter_ was too much. I had left Abnegation to get away from him, yet somehow I could still feel his presence. I take a few deep breaths before I restart my search for Tobias, hopefully he can distract me from what just happened with Will. When I finally spot him, I see that he's standing next to the railing of the chasm.

"_Please_ say that you're not working today," I say, approaching him.

He smiles at me before responding, "Sorry, I have shifts throughout the day."

I let out an over exaggerated groan. "You work too much."

"I usually don't take so many extra shifts, but most people want to spend today visiting their families."

"So, you're being noble like a prince. Prince Four of the Dauntless," I tease.

He rolls his eyes at me.

"Speaking of Princes, have you rescued your Damsel yet?" I ask and tilt my head towards Tris who's standing with her mother.

"No, she's-"

I cut him off, "_Don't_ say she's an initiate."

"We don't talk."

I see Tris and her mom begin to walk towards us. "Well, I think that's about to change. I'll leave you to it, wouldn't want to intervene on one of your first, almost, one on one conversations."

He looks at me alarmed, "Her _mom's_ with her. What if she recognizes me?"

"Well, that's why I'm leaving; besides Tris already knows who you are. Now, go Prince Four," I say and turn him around before walking off.

I end up returning to the dormitory and falling asleep.

* * *

When I wake up again, it's around four and my stomach is rumbling. I roll out of my bed and run my fingers through my hair. After checking that I'm halfway decent, I head to the cafeteria. It's mainly empty when I get there, but luckily they're still serving food. After I fill a tray, I sit down at an empty table. Shortly after I begin eating, the chair next to me is pulled out and I turn my head in time to see Eric plop into it.

"Tough meeting?"

"Something like that," he huffs out, before digging into his food.

I return to my meal; however I can't help but let my eyes flicker to Eric every few seconds.

"What'd you do today?" he asks me.

For a second, I'm frozen; he's never bothered to ask me about my day before.

"I slept, mostly, after I got into a fight with Will's sister." He raises his eyebrows at that and before he can say anything I continue on, "I don't want to talk about it. What'd you do? Besides go to a meeting."

"Filled out paperwork, mostly."

"What kind of paperwork?"

He twists one of his eyebrow piercings and looks over me. "You want to hear about how I spent the day filling out paperwork?"

"Honestly? No."

He stands and for a second I'm worried I offended him. Instead, he picks up my plate and stacks it with his and says,

"Come on."

I'm reminded of the first time he whisked me away from dinner, and a grin comes onto my face as I follow him. The Pit is still stuffed with people, which causes me to have trouble keeping Eric in my vision. After having to push through a particular thick cluster of people, I see that Eric is waiting for me. When I reach him, he doesn't say anything, just throws his arm around my shoulder and ushers us through the crowd.

I feel my cheeks turn red. We don't have to push through as many crowds now, but I can feel several eyes watching us. When we stop again, I see that we're at the tattoo parlor and I raise one of my eyebrows.

"You said you wanted to get a tattoo or piercing. I'm getting another piercing, and then we can figure out what to do with you"

"Okay," I say, walking over to look at one of the books as Eric goes back with one of the workers.

I lean against a table while I flip through the worn pages. I hadn't really thought about what tattoo I would get, so it was no surprise that I had to flip through three books before finding one that I liked; a phoenix. I begin to run my fingers over it and a voice behind me asks,

"Are you going to get that one?"

I turn my head and come face to face with Eric. His face is inches from mine and I can see a new piercing in his left eyebrow. I quickly look back down at the book and say,

"Yeah, I think so. What do you think, should I get it on my back or my side? I'm leaning towards the side."

I can feel his eyes graze over me and I suddenly feel extremely self-conscious. He then leans forward and checks out the picture again, before saying

"Your side would be good."

"Side it is, then."

I call over a tattoo artist, who introduces herself as Tori. I then show her the picture of the phoenix and tell her how I want it to cover the majority of my left side. She nods before leading the way back.

"You coming?" I ask Eric.

"Yeah," he says, before following after me.

We're mainly silent as I get my tattoo, due to the fact that Tori keeps sending Eric hostile looks. It doesn't hurt much, due to the fact that I'm still on pain medication.

"All done," she tells me, over a half hour later.

I stand and move over to the mirror as she starts cleaning up the area. It's done in black ink and stretches from my hips to the edge of my bra. I run my good hand along it and smile.

"You like it?" Eric asks, into my ear.

He's standing close enough that I can feel his breath on my neck. I shiver slightly before meeting his eyes in the mirror.

"I _love_ it," I answer. "What do you think?"

"It's nice. Especially this part," he says, before running his fingers along one of the wings.

I feel my breath hitch, but before I can say anything I hear the sound of a door being slammed open. I jump slightly and my shirt falls back into place as a bunch of rowdy Dauntless storm into the room. We leave soon after that.

"So, do you have tattoos or are you just into piercings?" I question as we walk around the Pit.

"I have two or three tattoos."

"Oh? Could you show me them sometime?"

"I think we could arrange something."

"Good."

It's then that I spot Will, standing near the chasm. Since he's by himself, I assume that his sister has left already.

"Hey, would you mind if I?" I ask and tilt my head towards Will.

"Go ahead; technically I'm already supposed to be at that meeting with your brother."

"Oh, you should have said something. Go to your meeting, I'm gonna go apologize to Will."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight, Liss."

"See you tonight," I call, then turn and make my way towards Will.

I walk slowly wanting to put it off. I don't know if I'll be able to explain why I blew up at Cara without telling him about Marcus.

"Hey," I say when I reach him.

"Hey," he replies.

I bite my lip, before deciding that I should trust Will. "Can we talk?" I pause. "In somewhere other than here."

"Fine," he responds, then leads the way out of the Pit. We travel through a couple hallways until we reach an empty one.

"I'm sorry I attacked your sister."

"What was that even about?" he questions leaning against a wall.

"I . . . I just . . ." I trail off.

I can't just say it; I've spent my entire life denying it. I rack my brain, trying to find a better way to say it.

"Four transferred two years ago, he was the first in a decade to switch from Abnegation to Dauntless."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asks.

"Do you remember the articles the Erudite wrote about Marcus?" I don't wait for a nod; I can see the comprehension already spreading through his eyes. "Well, the accusations were true."

"It's not an excuse for blowing up at Cara," I continue. "But, I wanted you to know."

He wraps his arms around me before saying, "Liss, I'm sorry. I would have stopped Cara if I had known. I should have stopped her to begin with, she was out of line."

When my eyes meet his, I see that they're filled with pity.

"Stop looking at me like _that_."

"Like what?"

"Like, I'm _broken_. Like, there's something wrong with me. I haven't changed."

"No, I know you haven't. I am sorry though Liss."

"Yeah, well, I'm out now and that's all that matters."

He looks unsure but I send him a look that says that I don't want to talk about it.

"So are we good?" I ask

"We're good."

Then his stomach grumbles loudly. I snort and say,

"Hungry?"

"Just a bit."

We start walking towards the cafeteria, when I remember my tattoo.

"Oh! Hey, you'll never guess what I did today."

"What'd you do?"

"I got a tattoo. Here, check it out," I say then lift my shirt so that he can see it. "It's a phoenix."

"I like it. You know phoenixes symbolize strength, protection, power, and renewal among other things."

"Yeah?"

Will then spins off into a tangent about other mythical creatures and what they symbolize.

* * *

Dinner flies by quickly and soon I'm making my way into the dormitory. The other transfers are huddled around Tobias; the chalkboard that contains our ranks is leaning against his legs turned away from us.

"For those of you who just came in, I'm explaining how the ranks are determined. After the first round of fights, we ranked you according to your skill level. The number of points you earn depends on your skill level and the skill level of the person you beat. You earn more points for improving and more points for beating someone of a high skill level. I don't reward preying on the weak. That is cowardice. If you have a high rank, you lose points for losing to a low-ranked opponent."

"Stage two of training is weighted more heavily than stage one, because it is more closely tied to overcoming cowardice. That said, it is extremely difficult to rank high at the end of initiation if you rank low in stage one. We will announce the cuts tomorrow. The fact that you are transfers and the Dauntless-born are not will not be taken into consideration. Four of you could be factionless and none of them. Or four of them could be factionless and none of you. Or any combination thereof. That said, here are your ranks."

He places the board on the wall, it reads:

1. Edward

2. Peter

3. Liss

4. Will

5. Christina

6. Molly

7. Tris

8. Drew

9. Al

10. Myra

Third. I can handle third. Peter must have earned more points when he fought Edward and then we probably earned an equal amount in our fight, so I'm not too shocked that he's ahead of me. The rest of the room is silent until Molly yells,

"What?" She points towards Christina, "I _beat_ her! I beat her in _minutes_, and she's ranked _above_ me?"

Christina crosses her arms, wearing a smug smile and says, "Yeah. And?"

"If you intend to secure yourself a high rank, I suggest you don't make a habit of losing to low-ranked opponents," Tobias says, before leaving the room.

Molly turns on Tris. "You. _You_ are going to pay for this."

She doesn't hit her, though, or blow up in anyway. Instead she stalks out of the room. I notice that Peter hasn't said anything since the rankings went up, and when I look over at him I can see he's not pleased.

Will pulls me into a hug and ruffles my hair. "You did great, number _three_. You can thank me once initiation is over."

"Thank you for-" I try to say.

"You're welcome," he jokes and I laugh as him and Christina high five.

Will then approaches Tris and they exchange a few words.

"We should celebrate," Will says, looking at Tris, Christina, Al, and I.

"Well, let's go, then," Christina exclaims. "Come on, Al. You don't know how the Dauntless-born did. You don't know anything for sure."

"I'm just going to go to bed," he mumbles.

Will looks at me expectantly.

"I would come, but I told Four I'd talk to him after the ranks were put up. He's been busy today," I lie.

I feel guilty for doing so, but I doubt that my friends would be too happy to hear that I've been hanging out with Eric during my free time. Christina, surprisingly, doesn't catch my lie, or if she does she doesn't say anything. I walk with them until we reach the Pit, and then we part. As I approach the training room, I can't help but notice that the guilty feeling fades the closer I get to Eric.

* * *

**AN: So my curiosity has been sparked. Based on my writing skills, how old do you guys think I am?**


	11. Chapter 11

Hello, everyone! I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and those who answered my question at the end. I am actually 16, in case you were curious. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

When I reach the training room, I see that Eric is waiting outside.

"Hey," I say when I reach him.

"Hey."

"So, are we going to go in?"

"No, I'm taking you somewhere else today."

"Okay? Are you going to tell me where or is it a surprise?"

"Nowhere too special," he says.

He then proceeds to throw his arm around my shoulders and leads me down the hall. After several turns, I notice that we're taking the path to the Dauntless living corridors. Finally we stop in front of a black door that, if I remember correctly, is only a few rooms down from Tobias'. He quickly slides his arm off of my shoulders and unlocks the door before ushering me in.

His room is larger than Tobias'. He has a couch, a coffee table, and two bookshelves as well as a larger kitchen; a pair of double doors lead to what I assume is the bedroom. I walk over to the bookshelf and begin looking over some of the titles; I don't know the majority of them, but some that we were required to read for school stick out.

"Recognize any of them?" Eric asks me.

"A few, where'd you get them all? They can't all have come from here; I don't think I've even seen any book shops."

"Some of them are from here, but the majority are from Erudite. We're allowed to trade with other factions."

I nod. In Abnegation we never traded anything, we didn't have anything to trade since no luxurious were allowed.

"Which one is your favorite?" I question.

He bites down on one of his lip piercings before saying, "That's a tie between these three."

He brings down three different books and I ask, "What are they about?"

Eric begins to explain the plot to each and before I know it we're sitting on the couch and he's reading out some of his favorite parts in each one. If it was anyone else I probably would have fallen asleep, but the way his eyes light up and the way he speaks about each book makes it so I can't tear my eyes away from him. His voice is quiet and rough as he speaks into my ear. We had started off sitting at least six inches away from each other, but as the time passed, we ended up getting closer so that I was now curled up next to him, with my head resting on his shoulder.

It's been at least an hour and half since we arrived and I'm having to stifle my yawns. Unfortunately he notices.

"Tired?"

"No," I say, as I attempt to stifle another yawn. "Maybe."

"Let's get you back to the dorm. It's late anyway."

"You haven't even showed me your tattoos yet."

"Guess you'll have to come back tomorrow."

"I suppose I can live with that."

"Come on," he says, getting up and dragging me with him.

We walk back to the dormitory quickly and before we turn the last corner we stop.

"Congratulations, by the way, being ranked third is good for the first round."

"Well, you helped. Sort of."

His lips twitch slightly before he says, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

* * *

I can't have been asleep for more than half an hour when I'm woken by a blood curdling scream. I stiffen and for a moment it feels as if I'm back in my bedroom in Abnegation. Another scream pierces through the room and I remember that I'm in the Dauntless compound. I shoot upwards in my bed and quickly stand up.

"Turn on the lights!" someone exclaims.

I remain frozen as the screams continue. Finally, the lights turn on. The first thing I see is Edward, lying on the ground, his head is surrounded by blood, and his hands are clawing at his eye. Morbid curiosity makes me take a step closer and I see that a butter knife is lodged into his eye. Myra stands near him, but she makes a point of not stepping in any of his blood. Tris however, settles down next to him and tries to calm him.

When I look around I see that Peter and Drew are missing. I feel my stomach sink. That could have been me, if I had ranked above him. It could still be me, if Peter wants me out. A feeling of outrage consumes me for a moment, he is a coward.

Soon, a nurse arrives and takes Edward away. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn to see Will. He tilts his head towards the door and I nod, the smell of Edward's blood fills the room and it makes breathing almost unbearable. When we get outside, he says,

"You know who did it, right?"

"Peter and Drew."

"They're such cowards," Will states.

"I thought Dauntless was supposed to be for the brave and the heroes, not for people who want to stab each other in the back or the eye," I rant.

He nods before looking over me.

"Are you okay, Liss?"

"Of course I am; Edward got stabbed, not me."

"Yeah, but it could have been you."

"But it wasn't."

"But what about the next time that Peter loses to someone, are we just all supposed to wait until he gets caught?"

"Well, we can't say anything. They won't care."

I yawn loudly.

"Still want to sleep after all that?"

"Yeah, I hadn't slept much before it happened. Would you mind if I went back to sleep? Right now's probably the best time; everyone's on edge so I doubt Peter will try anything again tonight."

"You go ahead; I think I'm just going to walk around."

I can feel my eyes drooping as I nod and walk into the room. As I fall onto my bed, I notice that all the blood has been cleared from the floor. Sleep comes easy, but it's plagued with images of blood and feelings of pain.

* * *

When I wake up again, it's past noon. Half of the beds in the dormitory are filled with people snoozing, and I notice that Edward's and Myra's beds have been stripped and their drawers hang open, empty. My gaze lands on the board that holds our ranks and I see that their names have been crossed out and the numbers have been changed. I am now second.

I shower and get ready for the day. When I finish I leave the dormitory by myself and start walking down random corridors. Eventually I end up in the Pit; it's crowded as usual, so I move over to the chasm. The loud noise it creates is a nice distraction; I still can't get the image of the knife stuck in Edward's eye out of my head.

"Have you had lunch yet?" a rough voice, that I know to be Eric's, says into my ear.

"No," I answer, turning around to look at him. "I'm not quite sure if I'm hungry

His hands are planted on either side of me and I have to lean back against the railing in order to see his face.

"Because of Edward?"

"Sort of."

"Don't worry about it; I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

"_You're_ going to look out for all of the initiates?" I ask in disbelief

"No, but Peter and Drew won't touch you unless they want to deal with me." Then, as an afterthought, he adds, "Or your brother."

"So you know it was them? Why are they still here then?"

"There's no proof."

I sigh and he says, "Come on, let's go eat."

He wraps his arm around my waist before leading us into the cafeteria. Even though we've walked around like this before, people still stare and point; I even hear a few whispers. I ignore them for the most part while we eat. We're sitting next to each other and I sit sideways with my feet on the chair. When we're both almost finished, I ask,

"Does it ever bother you?"

"Does what ever bother me?"

"That almost everyone is afraid of you."

"_Everyone_ isn't afraid of me."

"Yes they are. It always gets quiet when you walk into rooms and people act more cautious."

He looks me over. "Are you afraid of me?"

"No."

"Then no, it doesn't bother me."

* * *

Once we're out of the cafeteria Eric and I walk around talking, his arm is around my waist again.

"Did you clean your tattoo this morning?"

"Well, I would have but, uh, I wasn't exactly listening when Tori explained how I was supposed to do it."

"I'll show you how to do it tonight," he says and I feel butterflies fill my stomach.

"And you're going to show me your tattoo's right?"

Before he can answer we're interrupted by a man in his late twenties, he's dressed in Erudite clothing and carries pencil and paper.

"Excuse me, Alyssa Eaton?"

I stiffen as he shoves his glasses up on his nose.

"I'd like to ask you some questions about your time in Abnegation. Now is it true that you and your brother switched factions because of your abusive father? And do you know if Beatrice Prior switched for the same reasons?"

"Excuse me?" I say, annoyance beginning to bubble up in me.

"Could you give me your opinion on our corrupt government?"

"I think that you need to find better things to do with your time, and if I wanted to spend my free time thinking of Abnegation I would have stayed in that faction. I don't care about them, and if you don't get out of my face in the next ten seconds, I'll break your nose."

The man stumbles backwards while scribbling on his notepad before disappearing from sight. Eric, who's standing behind me, glares at the spot where the Erudite had been.

"He shouldn't have been here."

"As long as he doesn't bother me again, I don't care," I reply, turning to look at him.

"I have to get back to work," he tells me.

"Okay."

He runs his hand along my covered tattoo and says, "Don't bother bringing anything for your tattoo tonight, I'll have it covered. I'll see you later."

"I'll see you tonight."

I watch as he walks off and I can't help but grin.

"What the hell was that?" I hear a voice ask.

I spin around and see Christina.

"I mean I knew you weren't hanging out with Four all the time, but I didn't expect you to be ditching us for _Eric_. You're lucky Will and Al didn't see."

"Christina, it's not like that."

"_Really_?"

"Can I explain?"

"Not in here, come on," she says grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the room. I stumble along after her. Once we've walked a bit, she releases my wrist. "Talk."

"Eric and I have been hanging out, sort of. I mean at first it was just for training but then, since it's ended, we've continued to hang out. It's not that big of a deal. He's really not that bad of a guy, and yes, I _know_ he made you hang over the chasm, but he's - he's just not like that to me. He's nice-ish and he's interesting and smart and when he talks about things that he likes his eyes light up making him not seem so cruel and cold. He's attractive too and whenever he touches me, I feel like he's lighting my skin on fire, in a good way. And I just . . ."

I trail off once I realize I've said more than I meant to.

"_So_, you like him?"

"I, yeah, I guess I do, and I know he can be a bit of a jerk, but I can't help it."

She looks torn for a moment before she says, "Okay, I get it. From what I've seen he is nicer towards you, but don't expect me or any of the others to start liking him just because you do"

"Of course."

"So, is he your first boyfriend?"

"We're not dating, but if we were he would be. I didn't really talk to anyone back in Abnegation."

"If I didn't hate his guts, I might find the situation cute." She pauses before saying, "Does Will like me?"

The question catches me off guard and it takes me a moment to answer, "I don't know, I mean we don't usually talk about that stuff."

"In Candor it was easy to tell if someone liked you back because they just said it, but Will hasn't mentioned it. Sometimes he acts like he does, and then other times it seems like he doesn't."

I pause, unsure what to do. "Do you . . . want me to ask if he likes you?"

"No, I'll do it."

* * *

Dinner comes and goes quickly; Tris appears halfway through her eyes bright and her hair windblown. Christina, Al, and Will didn't seem too pleased that Tris got to go somewhere with the other Dauntless but I didn't mind too much. When dinner's over Will looks like he's going to ask me to do something, but Christina swoops in and drags him off elsewhere. I make a mental note to thank her later before heading to Eric's room.


	12. Chapter 12

Hello, everyone! Thank you for all the reviews! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

When I arrive Eric quickly pulls me into the room.

"Hey."

"Hey," he says. "Do you want me to show you how to clean your tattoo now or later?"

"Now's good," I answer and he leads me into the bathroom.

The bathroom itself is small and clean. A couple of different products are lined up on the counter. He grabs a washcloth and turns on the sink before wetting it down.

"You're going to want to wash your tattoo a couple times a day for the first week," he tells me as he squeezes some soap onto the washcloth. "Make sure you use unscented antibacterial soap on it."

He wrings some of the water out from the towel so it's not dripping before approaching me. He lifts part of my shirt up and he presses it against my skin. He takes his time cleaning the slightly red tattoo. His hands linger in some areas while he washes the tattoo.

"If you don't take care of it properly, it will become irritated and infected," he tells me as his hands roam across my skin.

I nod and when he finishes, he sets the cloth aside. He then puts lotion on his hands before turning back to me. He places his hands on my waist and starts rubbing it in. I watch as his hands move up and down and my breath hitches when I realize how close we are.

"You'll want to continuously put unscented lotion on it for the next month."

His hands have stopped moving and they now rest on my hips.

"So, is that it?" I ask, lifting my eyes to meet his.

He nods and takes a step back, allowing his hands to fall off of me.

"Do I get to see yours now?" I question.

"Sure."

He lifts off his shirt and I catch a glimpse at his tan stomach before he turns around. A cross stretches across the majority of his back, while the Erudite and Dauntless symbol are near the top of his right shoulder. I take a step closer and run my fingers over the swirling black ink.

"They're amazing."

"So, you like them?" he asks, turning back towards me.

My eyes collide with his. "Yeah."

We're standing close enough that his stomach is almost touching mine. My eyes fall to his lips before returning back to his eyes. I don't know who leans in first, but then our lips are touching.

I stiffen for a moment, unsure what to do before leaning into the kiss. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. My arms slide up around his neck and I bury one of my hands into his hair and pull him closer. When we part after a few moments my mind feels fuzzy.

"I wanted to do that for a while now," Eric says his arm still wrapped around me.

"So have I."

I stay at his room for another hour before he walks me back to the dorm.

* * *

When I wake up the next morning, I can still remember the feeling of Eric's lips against mine. I smile at the thought before heading down to breakfast. Upon entering the cafeteria, I grab a muffin before sitting down next to Tobias.

"Morning," I chirp.

"Why are you so happy?" he questions.

"Is there a reason why I shouldn't be?"

"No," he answers, sparing me a wary glance.

"Nothing bad has happened and I'm being careful, promise. There's nothing for you to be worried about."

He still looks dubious, but he doesn't question me further on the subject. We continue to talk while having our breakfast. On the way out of the cafeteria, he asks,

"Are you ready for stage two?"

"As ready as I can be, seeing as I don't know what stage two is exactly."

He looks as if he wants to tell me something. Instead he says, "Just be careful, alright?"

I nod.

When we reach the hallway where we're supposed to meet for stage two I see that most of the other initiates are already there. The transfers sit on one side of the wall while the Dauntless-born sit on the other. I go over to where Will is and sit between him and Tris as Tobias disappears behind a door at the end of the hallway. Silence hangs in the air between us for a couple minutes before a girl with a shaved head says,

"So, which one of you is ranked first, huh?"

We're all quiet before Peter clears his throat and replies, "Me."

"Bet I could take you," she challenges, turning over her eyebrow piercing. "I'm second, but I bet any of us could take you, transfer."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you," Peter retorts.

"Yeah, he'd probably stab you in the eye with a butter knife when he realizes that you're better than him," I say before I can stop myself.

"Liss," Will warns.

"What? _Everyone_ already knows." My gaze lands on Peter and he fidgets slightly. "He's a coward for doing it and he'll be even more of a coward if he denies it.

The tension hangs between all of us.

"So, uh, who's first in your group?" Peter questions after a moment.

"Uriah. And I am sure, even if you do use a butter knife. You know how many years we've spent preparing for this?" the girl says.

Before Peter can retort, Tobias swings the door open and says,

"Lynn."

The girl from before stands up and follows Tobias behind the door.

"So you're first," Will says to Uriah, once the door closes.

Uriah shrugs. "Yeah. And?"

"And you don't think it's a little unfair that you've spent your entire life getting ready for this, and we're expected to learn it all in a few weeks?"

"Not really. Stage one was about skill, sure, but no one can prepare for stage two. At least, so I'm told," Uriah responds.

We sit in silence for almost a half hour after that before Tobias opens the door and says,

"Peter."

The process continues, and after a while I rest my head on Will's shoulder and close my eyes. I don't sleep, instead I think of what stage two could be. Tobias had said at the beginning of initiation that stage two was primarily emotional and he had told me that it was a simulation. My mind feels too jumbled and I feel a slight amount of anxiety begin to build in my stomach.

"Liss," I hear Eric call around two hours later.

I jerk upwards and open my eyes. Eric stands at the end of the hall, and he appears to be glaring at Will. As I stand Will shoots me a small smile and says,

"Good luck."

"Thanks. Good luck to you too."

When I reach Eric he places his hand on my lower back and ushers me into the room. It's small and in the middle is a reclining metal chair, a computer screen is on the corner of a desk, and a machine that's used for simulations is next to the chair.

"Take a seat," Eric instructs and I comply.

"What kind of simulation is this?"

"You're going to be facing your fears."

"Great," I say sarcastically.

He grabs a syringe filled with a tinted orange liquid and moves my hair out of the way. I tilt my head to the side, in order to give him better access. Once I feel the pinch from the injection he begins to speak.

"The simulation will start in about sixty seconds. It has a transmitter so I'll be able to see what's going on. In addition the simulation stimulates the amygdala, the part of the brain that process negative emotions, and it will then induce a hallucination. The brain's electrical activity is then transmitted to our computer, which will translate your hallucination into a simulated image that I can see and monitor. You'll stay in the hallucination until you lower your heart rate and control your breathing."

I nod.

"You'll do fine, Liss," he reassures me as I close my eyes.

* * *

When I open my eyes I see that I'm no longer in the room with Eric, instead I am at my home in Abnegation. I stand in the middle of my old living room and Marcus stands before me. I know that none of this is real, but it sure feels like it is.

"Where have you been?"

My mouth feels dry. "I, uh, I went for a walk."

"Don't lie to me," he says, seizing my arm.

"I'm not," I insist, and wiggle my arm slightly.

It's the wrong move to make, his grip tightens and he pulls me closer to him.

"Where have you been?" he repeats.

"I already told you, I went for a walk."

He releases my arm and I stumble back. I don't get the chance to feel relieved because he swings his hand back and slaps me across the face. When he pushes me against the wall, I don't fight back instead I allow myself to crumple to the floor. All of a sudden he's holding a belt and he brings it down on my back. I bite down on my lip to stop from crying out as he repeats that action over and over. I don't scream, instead I continue to bite on my lip even after blood begins to spill from it. The belt pounds against my back and I can feel the skin breaking. When the blood finally spills from my back, it's a relief for a moment; it feels cool and soothing against my stinging back. But that feeling quickly disappears as he brings the belt down again, it hurts more this time. After a minute he turns me over with his foot and kicks my stomach before saying,

"You're going to thank me one day for getting rid of your selfishness. Now, Get up."

The words "I'm sorry" spill from my mouth as I struggle on my hands and knees in a puddle of my own blood. I move to slow and he grabs my left arm and pulls me up before shoving me against the wall. Then it clicks, my cast is gone_. This isn't real_, I tell myself. It's then that I notice that it feels different. The pain feels different, it's not as sharp. Instead it's dull and fuzzy as if it's not real. When he brings his hands up to my neck, I don't fight back. I force all of my muscles to relax and slow my breathing. It's hard; his fingers dig into my neck cutting off some of my oxygen, as if the blood filling my mouth wasn't making breathing difficult enough. Marcus' voice begins to fade slightly and I close my eyes.

* * *

I jerk forward in the metal chair, opening my eyes. My lips feel wet and when I lick them, I taste blood. I bring my hand up and wipe away the blood. Then I look down at the ground, hoping that I can avoid Eric's gaze. He isn't going to want me anymore, I'm broken, damaged. I can't rid myself of the past; _he deserves someone better_, I tell myself. I hear a couple clicks, and then I see Eric's shoes.

"Liss," he says.

Reluctantly, I look up. He doesn't look at me with pity though, but I can see rage swirling in his eyes. He lifts his hand towards me; for a moment I think he's going to hit me, and I flinch. His hand falters and then he lets it drop.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"You haven't done anything."

I swallow and say nothing.

"Liss, I'm not angry at you; I'm _never_ angry at you. Your father, however, well I can see why you wanted to shove him into the chasm. Personally, I think he deserves worse."

A part of me thinks he's lying, and I'm tempted to say that I deserved everything that I got. Even in the simulation Marcus believed that he was doing the right thing, and who was to say that he wasn't. I push those thoughts away and nod at Eric. He grabs my hand and pulls me up.

"Can we not talk about _him_?" I ask.

"Okay."

"How long was I in there for? Half an hour?"

"Not even, you were in there for almost five minutes. That's twice as fast as most people."

"Really?"

"You're doing really well, Liss. I'm proud of you."

I feel a smile spread across my face. No one has ever told me that they were proud of me before but it feels nice. I stand on my tip toes and kiss his cheek. After I pull away, he swoops down and catches my lips. It's a short kiss and as we're breaking apart the door opens.

Tobias stands frozen in the doorway, his hands clenched into fist and his jaw tightens. I pull fully away from Eric. We all stare at each other and I can't think of the right thing to say.

"If you're finished, other initiates need to use the room," Tobias announces, his voice is tight and quiet.

I shouldn't feel bad, but I can tell that Tobias sees this as a betrayal. Instead I walk out the door, but before I make it all the way out he stops me.

"We can talk about this in the morning."

I nod and see that Eric is smirking behind Tobias.

Eric walks beside me down the hall, but we don't say anything.

"I've got to get back to work, but I'll see you tonight."

For a moment I'm able to forget about seeing Marcus again and the look on Tobias' face.

"Yeah, I'll see you tonight."

* * *

I return to the dorm and lie down on my bed. When Will arrives looking shaken I scoot over and he lies down next to me.

"That bad?" I ask.

"Yeah, how was yours?"

I'm silent for a moment before saying, "It could have been worse."

"Are you and Eric still sort of friends? He looked a bit pissed when he called you into the room."

I smile at the sound of Eric's name and turn to lie on my side so that I'm now facing Will.

"Can you keep a secret?" I ask while checking to see if anyone's watching us.

He sends me a wary glance before saying, "Of course."

"I kissed him. Well I mean he kissed me, but I reciprocated. But, oh, you know I just really like him. It sounds stupid, I know, but I do like him." I pause. "Did I just say _reciprocated_? Your leftover Erudite is rubbing off on me."

Will wears a poker face and when I notice I stop talking.

"You're sure you like him?" he asks. "He isn't exactly the best guy, if you've noticed."

I nod.

"Then I'm okay with it, but if he hurts you I'll kill him."

"Well, isn't someone feeling stereotypical," I joke.

He smiles at me and then we're both silent. I watch his eyes move over to the left of me and he crinkles his nose up.

"What?"

"Peter and Molly look a bit too pleased for having just faced their fears."

I roll over and see the two of them smirking at a newspaper. Then I turn back to Will.

"I don't read the paper, do you?"

He shakes his head.

We're silent and when Christina arrives, we both scoot farther down so that she can lie next to us. Al walks in a half hour after Christina, his hands shake and he immediately gets into his bed. When Christina asks if he's alright, he claims to be fine, but doesn't say much else. Not soon after, Peter clears his throat. My eyes drift over to where he's standing as he begins to read off the newspaper.

"_The mass exodus of the children of Abnegation leaders cannot be ignored or attributed to coincidence." _I hear the door open and see Tris walk in. "_The recent transfer of Beatrice and Caleb Prior, the children of Andrew Prior, along with the transfer of Alyssa Eaton, daughter of Marcus Eaton, calls into question the soundness of Abnegation's values and teachings_."

Most of the initiates are now crowded around Peter; Christina and Al stand near the edge of the circle while Will stands next to my bed. I, however, remain seated.

"_Why else would the children of such important men decide that the lifestyle they have set out for them is not an admirable one?_" Peter continues. "_Marcus Eaton has been previously accused of bringing his children up in an abusive environment two years ago when his son, Tobias Eaton, first transferred. There has not been any confirmation of these accusations, but several Dauntless members claimed that his daughter, Alyssa, is unstable and has violent tendencies. Molly Atwood, a fellow Dauntless transfer, suggests a disturbed and abusive upbringing might be to blame for the Prior's transfer. 'I heard Tris talking in her sleep once,' Molly says. "She was telling her father to stop doing something. I don't know what it was, but it gave her nightmares._"

Molly smirks and Tris clenches her jaw.

"What?" Tris says. "_What_?"

Peter stops reading and smirks at Tris. Some of the transfers turn and stare at Tris in a pitying way before giving me the same glance. I don't get angry like Tris does, instead I glare at Peter.

"Give me that," demands Tris.

"But I'm not done reading," Peter mocks. "_However, perhaps the answer lies not in a morally bereft man, but in the corrupted ideals of an entire faction. Perhaps the answer is that we have entrusted our city to a group of proselytizing tyrants who do not know how to lead us out of poverty and into prosperity._"

Tris marches up to Peter and attempts to snatch the paper away. Peter, however, lifts the paper up above his head and looks down on Tris, who proceeds to stomp on his foot and when he drops the paper she grabs it before lunging at Molly. Will grabs her from around the waist and pulls her back; I quickly get up and help pull her back.

"That's my _father_! My father, you coward!" Tris shouts.

As Will and I pull her out of the room, she clutches at the paper in her hand and glares at it. Her fingernails dig into my skin and once we're out of the dorm, I immediately let go of her and she shoves Will and I away.

"What? Did you think I couldn't defend myself against that piece of Candor trash?" Tris spits.

"No, I figured I'd stop you from starting a brawl in the dormitory. Calm down," Will says.

I shake my head, telling someone to calm down is the best way to make sure that they don't calm down.

Tris laughs. "Calm down? Calm down? That's my _family_ they're talking about, that's my _faction_!" She turns towards me. "That's _your_ family, they're talking about too. _Your_ faction."

"No, it's not," Will cuts in. "It's your old faction, and there's nothing you can do about what they say, so you might as well ignore it."

"Besides," I say, "nothing will happen. They're just making a fuss, nobody actually listens to what the Erudite say. They're not exactly known for their honesty."

"Were you even listening?" Tris continues ignoring me. "Your stupid ex-faction isn't just insulting Abnegation anymore. They're calling for an overthrow of the entire government."

Will laughs. "No, they're not. They're arrogant and dull, and that's why I left them, but they aren't revolutionaries. They just want more say, and they resent Abnegation for refusing to listen to them."

"They don't want people to listen, they want people to agree," Tris argues. "And you shouldn't bully people into agreeing with you. I can't believe my brother joined them."

"Hey. They're not all bad," Will defends.

Tris nods, but doesn't look convinced.

The door swings open, and Christina and Al walk out.

"It's my turn to get tattooed," Christina announces. "Want to come with us?"

We all agree, then head towards the Pit.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey, everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Next update will be Thursday! I hope you guys like this chapter. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

I'm walking with Will and Tris, ahead of us Al is giving Christina a piggyback ride. I'm wearing a black flowy dress that Christina convinced me to get after her and Tris got tattoos.

"I can't believe you got another tattoo," Will says to Tris.

"Why? Because I'm a Stiff?" questions Tris.

"No. Because you're . . . sensible." Will smiles before saying, "So, what was your fear today, Tris?"

"Too many crows. You?"

"Too much acid," he laughs.

"What about you, Liss?" Tris inquires.

"The past."

She doesn't ask what I mean, but I see her eyebrows pull together and Will frowns.

"It's really fascinating how it all works. It's basically a struggle between your thalamus, which is producing the fear, and your frontal lobe, which makes decisions. But the simulation is all in your head, so even though you feel like someone is doing it to you, it's just you, doing it to yourself and . . ." He trails off. "Sorry. I sound like an Erudite. Just a habit."

"I like your geeky talk, it makes things seem cooler than they actually are," I say and Will shoots me a smile.

Tris shrugs. "It's interesting."

I see Tobias next to the chasm he's surrounded by a group of other Dauntless, one of which I recognize as Zeke. He holds a bottle of what I assume is alcohol in one hand and grips the railing of the chasm with the other, he's laughing. I feel uneasy that he's so close to the chasm, especially since he appears to be intoxicated, but I know I can't go up to him and ask him not to stand over there. Instead I look away.

"Uh-oh, instructor alert," Will says.

"At least it's not Eric," Tris replies, causing me to frown. "He'd probably make us play chicken or something."

"Hey, he's not that bad," I defend.

Tris sends me a look of disbelief.

"Eric aside," Will jumps in before Tris can say something. "Four is still scary, maybe not to you Liss, because you're his sister. But remember when he put the gun up to Peter's head? I think Peter wet himself."

"Peter deserved it," Tris and I say simultaneously.

Will doesn't argue and we continue walking.

"Tris!" Tobias calls.

I freeze and we all exchange a quick glance. I don't want him to embarrass himself, but I don't want to approach him right now either. He's drunk and I'm unsure if he'd say anything about Eric and I if I do talk to him. Tris meets him half way and I take a half step forward, so that if he says anything too bad I'll be able to intervene quickly.

Will watches them curiously, as we both eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You look different," Tobias tells Tris sluggishly.

"So do you. What are you doing?" she questions.

"Flirting with death. Drinking near the chasm. Probably not a good idea."

"No, it isn't."

"Didn't know you had a tattoo." He takes a sip from the bottle; he'll possibly regret this conversation in the morning. But if I step in now, he'll probably make a scene. "Right. The _crows_. I'd ask you to hang out with us, but you're not supposed to see me this way."

"What way? Drunk?"

"Yeah . . . well, no. Real, I guess."

"I'll pretend I didn't."

"Nice of you. You look good, Tris."

I shuffle anxiously.

"Do me a favor and stay away from the chasm, okay?" Tris says, making me feel relieved.

"Of course." He winks before turning away.

Will clears his throat, but she doesn't turn back towards us; instead she watches Tobias leave. Al then rushes towards her and throws her over his shoulder. She shrieks before Al rushes off with her again.

"What was that?" Will questions.

"_That_ was my brother embarrassing himself." I turn to him. "It'll be best if you never mention to him that you saw this. We can hope he was too busy staring at Tris to notice you or myself."

Will nods as we catch up to the rest of the group.

"What did he say to you?" Christina asks Tris.

"Nothing. He was drunk. He didn't even know what he was saying. That's why I was grinning. It's . . . funny to see him that way."

I send Tris a smile that says, _thank you_, and she nods back at me as Will says,

"Right, couldn't possibly be because-"

Tris elbows him in the ribs and he shuts up.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Will asks me.

We just finished dinner and we're now walking through the Pit; Tris, Christina and Al are slightly ahead of us.

I look at him questioningly. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be?"

"You faced Marcus today, right? In your simulation?"

"Yeah."

"So, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."

"Will." I stop walking and turn towards him. "From what you said earlier, it sounds like you had acid poured over you; that was probably a lot worse than what I got. Don't worry about me."

"Does it matter if mine was worse? It doesn't make yours any easier."

I smile. "I'm fine, Will. Are you?"

"Of course."

"Good, at least we know it'll all be over soon."

Before Will can say anything an arm wraps itself around my waist in a possessive manner. I don't have to turn and look to know that it's Eric, but I do anyway.

"Hey, Liss," Eric says.

"Hey," I reply. "I thought you'd be in your room."

Will stands in front of us unmoving. I notice that Tris, Christina, and Al have also stopped and are now staring at Eric and I. They don't venture any closer though.

"I was passing through, thought I'd walk with you to my room for a change." He shoots a glare at Will.

"Okay," I say doubtfully, then turn to Will. "I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"Sure," Will answers uncertainly before turning and walking over towards the rest of my friends.

Eric then ushers me out of the Pit. When we reach a less crowded section of the hallway, I say,

"What was that?"

"What?"

"You know what." I pause. "Why were you glaring at Will?"

He doesn't answer, just unlocks the door to his room. I enter and lean up against the wall next to the door as he closes it.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were -"

"Say that I'm what?" Eric questions stepping in front of me, trapping me against the wall.

"Jealous," I answer, then look up so I can see his face fully.

"Why would I be jealous?"

"You tell me."

He leans down and presses his lips to mine, roughly. He slides his arms around my waist before pulling away from my mouth and placing a trail of open mouthed kisses on my neck. My entire body feels as if it's burning and my mind feels cloudy as I lean into him.

"If anyone's jealous, it should be him," he whispers in my ear before pulling away completely.

"Okay," I say, trying to reorganize my thoughts. "But . . . but Will doesn't like me that way, and I don't like him like that either. Alright?"

He nods and I walk over to his bookshelf.

"Now, how about you finish telling me about your favorite books."

* * *

The next morning, I stop by the hospital and grab some headache medication, then I go by the cafeteria and get some breakfast to go before going to Tobias' room. Thankfully the door's unlocked, so I'm able to walk right in. I place everything down at the table before going over to his bed where he's still sleeping. Training begins in just over an hour, so I don't bother hesitating in waking him up. When he finally does wake, he glares at me before throwing the covers over his head.

"Oh no you don't," I say, pulling the covers off of him and he groans. "You need to get up, training starts soon. Here." I hand him the medicine and a glass of water.

He blinks a couple times, trying to get his eyes to adjust before taking the medicine from me and washing it down with the water.

"Thanks."

"So, how much do you remember?"

"You mean do I still remember you being with Eric?" he asks harshly. "Yeah, I do."

I roll my eyes. "I actually meant your conversation with Tris."

He freezes for a moment, then his eyes widen and he groans.

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"Would you have listened?" I question. "Don't worry about it though; you didn't say anything _too _bad."

He shakes his head once before getting up and walking to the kitchen area. I follow after him and grab a muffin before sitting down across from him.

"Okay, come on, get it over with, lecture me about Eric."

"I'm not going to lecture you."

"You're not?"

"No, I'm just going to say that I don't think that you should date him."

"_Why_? Because _you_ don't like him? It's not your choice."

"Because I don't think he actually likes you and I don't want you to get hurt."

I sit up and meet Tobias' eyes. My hands curl into fists as I ask,

"Why would you say that? Of course he likes me, why else would he hang out with me?"

"Because he's using you; to get to me."

"_Excuse me?_" I push myself out of my chair and glare down at him.

"Now, wait let me explain."

"Explain what?"

"Every time you two are together and I'm in the room he's always smirking at me or touching you. He hates me and he'll do anything to get to me. And right now he's using you to do so."

"He smirks at everyone! And we hang out all the time, not just when you're around. You're acting _paranoid_. Can you even hear yourself?"

"I'm telling you the truth, Liss," he pleads while standing then takes a step closer to me. "He would never actually like you."

He freezes and immediately looks as if he regrets saying it. I feel a pang of hurt, but my rage quickly swallows it.

"_Why_? Why is it _so _hard for you to believe that someone could _actually _like me?"

He says nothing. I can't stay in the room, I feel furious. I fear that if I do stay I'll end up hitting him because I'm angry, but that's what Marcus used to do and I don't want to be like him. So instead I rush towards the door, using my shoulder to push him out of my way as I go. He stumbles backwards as I storm out of the room.

"Liss. Liss wait!" he calls after me.

I don't stop and I don't cry. I roam aimlessly. While I walk, I go over my fight with Tobias. He had to have just been paranoid, Eric wouldn't use me. He likes me, just yesterday he had been jealous of Will; people don't get jealous over things they don't care about. However, a tiny cloud of doubt forms in the back of my mind. All of Tobias' evidence was true, but that didn't mean the conclusion had to be. I shake the doubt away after a moment, then head to the hallway where we're meeting for stage two.

I take a seat next to Will, who's sitting by himself away from Peter and his crew. Tris, Christina and Al haven't arrived yet. Half of the Dauntless-borns sit across from us.

"What happened to you?" Will asks when I sit down.

"Nothing," I reply harshly.

"Did Eric do something?"

Throwing my hands up I exclaim, "_No_! Not everything is _Eric's _fault."

Will frowns and for a second he looks hurt by my exclamation.

"Sorry," I say after seeing his face. "_Four_ and I had a fight."

"_Great_, you pissed off the instructor and now the rest of us have to deal with him," says Lynn.

I turn to her. "_He_ has no reason to be pissed off; I didn't say anything bad to him. Besides, I wasn't talking to you."

She doesn't say anything to that just looks over me as if she's sizing me up. Marlene breaks the silence after a few minutes pass,

"Do you guys want to play cards?"

"I don't really know how," I answer.

"What do you mean you don't know how?" Marlene questions.

"I've just never played before," I say looking at the rectangular cards she pulled out of her jacket a moment ago.

I see Uriah shake his head at my words and he says, "We'll teach you."

Marlene, Will, Lynn, Uriah, and I end up forming a circle on the floor. They all end up teaching me various games including: goldfish, blackjack, BS, slapjack, and hearts. I hardly notice when Tobias passes and a few minutes after Lynn gets called back Marlene turns to me.

"So, is it true that you've been hanging out with Eric?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I mean, isn't he a bit intimidating?" questions Marlene.

Uriah laughs, "Are you _scared _of Eric?"

"You aren't?" Will inquires.

"Well . . ." Uriah trails off and Marlene snickers.

"How come everyone asks me about him?"

"Well it's not like he has a lot of friends, you can't blame us for being curious as to why he thinks you're different," Marlene explains.

I frown and before I can respond the door at the end of the hall opens and Eric calls out my name.

"Nervous?" he questions once I'm in the room.

"Sort of," I say sitting down in the chair. "I just want to get it over with."

"Can do," he tells me before moving my hair out of my way and pushing the injection into my neck. "It'll be easier this time."

I nod and lean back in the chair.

* * *

When I open my eyes again, I can't see anything. For a second, I'm unsure if my eyes are even open, but I can feel my eyelashes flutter against my eyelid as I open and close them. I'm lying on the floor, or what I assume is a floor. It's squishy and when I move so does it, it feels itchy against my hands and I attempt to stand up. However the ground shifts as I move and I end up falling back down.

I feel something hairy crawl up my leg and I try to swipe whatever it is off, but when I bring my hand down nothing is there. Something cold and sluggish lands on my arms and I can hear a faint buzz in my ear. My hands feel clammy as I feel another small, damp creature crawl up on top of me.

I shake my body in an attempt to get whatever it is off, but I can still feel it. Several other sluggish things slither along my body and I run my hand along my legs trying to get whatever it is off. This time my hand comes into contact with a mushy, wet being. I try to push it off, but it sticks to my leg and I feel tiny pricks of pain surge through my body.

Before I can attempt to swipe it off again, I feel a few more small hairy creatures climb on top of me. All of a sudden one crawls into my mouth and I immediately spazz. I spit it out, but the taste of blood and what I assume to be legs are still in my mouth. I spit again and quickly cover my mouth with my hands after checking that nothing is on them.

I take a deep breath as more unknown creatures inch along me. I squirm and can feel my heart pounding against my chest. Something claws at my leg and pulls. When I gasp my hands move and I feel something enter my mouth again. I feel something nibble at my calf and I attempt to squish it. My breathing is coming out in loud huffs. _Calm down_, I tell myself. The smell of rotting flesh fills my nose and I twist anxiously.

I move my hands away from my mouth, after sealing it and force myself to relax into the floor that begins to swallow me up as more cold and hairy creatures scramble on top of me. I feel something that reminds me of a spider crawl up my nose and I have to muffle a whimper. I squeeze my eyes shut and count.

_One_, I exhale as something scratches at my stomach. _Two_, I inhale and something attempts to push into my mouth. _Three_, exhale. I attempt to disconnect my feelings. _It's not real_. _Four_, inhale something rips off a chunk of flesh from my arm. _Five, _exhale.

* * *

I wake up, gasping for breath.

"What the_ hell_ was that?"

"You tell me, I couldn't see anything."

"Exactly, I'm _not _afraid of the dark. Or I wasn't, I don't think I'll be able to sleep now without feeling something crawling on me."

I shiver.

"Most of the time, your fears aren't what they appear to be."

I nod and allow that thought to sink in.

"I think," I start. "I think I'm afraid of what I don't know."

He looks over me with a concentrated look on his face. "I could hear you counting."

"Oh?"

He nods before saying, "You know, you don't act as if you're from Abnegation."

"How do I act?"

"It's a mix between Erudite, Dauntless, and Abnegation."

I falter in standing up from the chair. "That's a, uh, odd combination, and not possible."

He swallows, then says, "You're right. I should hurry up and get back to my office; I've got a lot of paperwork to fill out."

I nod and watch him leave.

I don't move for a moment. _He knows_, I think. _He knows, or at least thinks I'm Divergent._ My legs feel slightly shaky beneath me, but I manage to make it back to the dormitory before I collapse onto my bed.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! This chapter feels a bit eh, but I promised it would be up on Thursday so here you go. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

"Did something happen today? Besides your fight with Four?" Will asks me.

It's dinner time and we're in the cafeteria. I've been staring into space for the last half hour, stirring the contents of my plate around.

"What?" I inquire, pulling myself back into reality.

It's then that I realize only Will and I are at the table.

"I asked if something happened. You've been silent ever since your simulation."

"Oh, yeah sorry, I'm fine, just distracted." I pause. "How are you, Will?"

"All things considered, I'm actually pretty good."

I nod.

"Do you want me to walk you to Eric's room?"

"What?" I ask again.

"You're going to Eric's room, right?"

"Yeah, sorry, and I guess that's alright."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Will says, his eyes watching me curiously.

"Fine," I reply, standing up.

The majority of the walk is spent in silence and I feel the anxiety grow inside of me with each step I take. Eric hadn't directly said that he thought I was Divergent, but he had sort of suggested it. Before I can decide if I actually want to see Eric, we arrive at his door. I stop and so does Will.

"If you change your mind about being fine, let me know. Otherwise, I'll see you later," Will says.

"Okay," I reply and watch him walk back down the hallway.

Then I turn to the door and quickly knock, before I can convince myself not to. A moment later the door swings open.

"Hey," he says, pulling me into the room.

"Hey," I reply, as he closes the door. He places his hand on my lower back before ushering me to the couch and pulling me down onto it so that I'm sitting next to him.

"You okay?" He looks me over, frowning.

I blink and assume he's not going to mention what happened earlier. I allow some of my anxiety to fade away before saying,

"Course, I've just been a bit distracted. Four and I had a fight earlier."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, thanks though." My eyes land on an open book on the coffee table. "You were reading?"

He nods and I lean forward and pick up the book.

"Read to me?" I question, handing it to him.

His lips twitch upwards slightly. "Sure."

He begins to read and the sound of his gravelly voice helps me relax. _Maybe he doesn't know that I'm Divergent_, I tell myself. However, my heart beats slightly faster when he walks me to the dormitory later that night as we walk by the chasm. He could easily push me in and everyone would believe that it was suicide. He doesn't hurt me though, and I tell myself that I need to stop being so paranoid.

* * *

I'm able to avoid Tobias the next morning and before I know it Eric is giving me the injection to put me in the simulation.

When I open my eyes, the first thing I notice is that I'm lying down. There is nothing beneath me, from what I can see, instead I am suspended in midair by chains and cuffs. A circle of fire surrounds me, the heat radiates inwards and I begin to sweat. The air is cloudy and dark; it's tinted an almost greenish color. I wiggle around, in an attempt to get free and in order to see what's beneath me, but I'm unable to move much. Screams and shrieks of horror fill my ears and I flinch.

"Help!" I scream as the fire moves inwards.

_I'm going to be roasted alive_, I think. Suddenly, a man appears in my peripheral vision. He looks normal, regular height, light brown hair, but his smile sends shivers up my spine. He's holding a sharp blade and has several other weapons hooked onto his jeans. I close my eyes, and take a breath, hoping I can calm down before things get bad. I feel the blade trail over my stomach, and open my eyes as the unknown man pushes it into my skin.

For a second, I don't feel anything but then white hot pain flies through me. I squirm and watch as he pulls the blade out, blood instantly gushes out. I bite down on my lip to keep from screaming, as he plunges the knife down into my skin again. A whimper escapes my mouth and the man smiles. Instead of taking the knife out again, he drags it around, carving out a circle. Blood fills my mouth as I bite down harder on my lip and I scream, when he pushes the knife deeper into me. It's agonizing.

I pull at my wrists frantically trying to get them out of the handcuffs. The smell of burnt flesh and blood fills my nose. Flames lick at my wrist, slowly burning them and I continue to struggle. The man hasn't quit carving me; during my struggle instead he's created more holes and designs. He drags his blade around, as if it's a paint brush and I'm the canvas. He places the knife into his jeans, then folds back part of my skin on my stomach.

I have to calm down. _This isn't real, wake up_, I tell myself. I begin to count like I had yesterday.

_One_, the man reaches his hand down into my stomach. _Two_, his hand grips something and excruciating pain shoots through me. _Three_, I scream as he pulls something out. My intestines. _Four_, my breathing hitches and I pull at my wrist. I can't calm down. I gag at the sight of my guts and I scream louder than before when he starts pulling my intestines out. _This isn't real_. My minds bending reality in order to create this, I can bend it in order to get out.

Closing my eyes, I whisper, "You're not real. This isn't real."

I push the pain to the back of my mind and imagine the man disappearing. A couple moments later I'm unable feel his hands on me anymore and when I open my eyes he's gone. The fire is closing in on me, and when I look down, I notice that my intestines are no longer hanging out of my stomach. I tug at my wrists and manage to break free before falling back.

* * *

I shoot forward, gasping for air. My eyesight is blurry, tears sting at the corner of my eyes. I bring my hand up and quickly wipe them away, avoiding Eric's gaze. I hear typing and then Eric says,

"Get up."

I stand and he opens the door for me. I quickly walk out, fast enough that when I pass Tobias he doesn't have a chance to say anything. Eric follows after me, his pace matching mine. When I glance at his face I see that it's blank. I feel terrified, but I put on a poker face that matches his. We end up on the roof and he glances down at his watch.

I hear the train before I see it. Eric moves closer to the tracks and I follow at a distance.

"Come on," he tells me as the train begins to pass.

He jogs forward and I follow after, my heart beating frantically. He jumps on first and a moment later I follow. It's difficult, my cast makes getting a grip challenging, but I manage to pull myself in. Once I'm in, he closes the door. He stares at me for a moment.

"You're Divergent," he says quietly.

Lying won't work, but I try anyway. "What's Divergent?"

He grits his teeth. "Don't lie."

I take a deep breath, then exhale before meeting his eyes. "Are you going to kill me?"

He puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out a gun. My breath hitches slightly and I take a step back. However, instead of bringing the gun up he tosses it on the ground.

"No."

"Are you going to tell anyone?" I ask my eyes glued to the gun on the floor.

"No." He pauses. "I deleted the footage from your simulation."

"Why?"

He steps closer to me. "Liss, I will never allow _anyone _to hurt you. You're important to me."

I throw my arms around him and hug him tightly.

"Thank you," I whisper into his ear.

"You can't let anyone else know. The other leaders, they'll kill you if they find out."

I nod against his shoulder. "I'll be more careful."

When I pull back, he leans down and presses his lips to mine. It's different than the other times we've kissed somehow, it's desperate and rough. He holds my body up against his as if he thinks I might disappear if he lets go. When we pull away a couple minutes later, my knees feel weak and my skin tingles.

"Come on," He takes my hand. "I want to show you something."

He pushes the door open, and motions for me to go first. I jump off; when I land I stumble slightly from the momentum but don't fall. He drapes his arm around me and guides me over to the fence.

"Hope you don't have a fear of heights," he says to me.

"Fortunately, I don't."

A ladder is built into the wall; it looks rusted and worn, like it will fall apart with the slightest bit of weight put on it. Eric doesn't appear to share my doubts about the ladder because he immediately starts heading up on it. After a moment I follow after him, we climb for over a half hour, my cast making me climb slower. The top of the wall stretches out and has a pathway carved in, by the time we reach it I'm out of breath.

"How often do you do this?" I ask, noticing that he's not out of breath in the slightest.

"At least once a month since I've joined Dauntless."

"Does anyone else come up here?"

"Not that I know of."

It's then that I notice that I can see the whole of the city. I can see each faction, as well as the Ferris wheel, my school, and the John Hancock building. The Erudite apartments, Abnegation houses, Amity gardens, Candor compound, and Dauntless compound stretched out. This is where I've spent my whole life, and this is probably where I'll die. Being able to see it all at once leaves me breathless.

"Wow," I say.

"That's not even the best part," he tells me, then leads the way down the narrow path.

I follow after him, my eyes glued on the city below us. After a couple minutes of walking, he stops and turns away from the city. I do the same.

I'm able to see miles of land. The majority of it is covered in Amity farms, but beyond that there are rows upon rows of trees. Then something shines into my eye. For a moment, I'm confused, but when I take a step closer to the edge I notice it's a thin piece of metal that the sun had reflected off of. My eyes trail down the thin metal rod, and with a bit of squinting I'm able to see a building and some cars.

"There are people out there," I say. Then I shake my head. "They can't be out there, that's-that's impossible, right?"

"It's not impossible. Did you really think we were the only people in the world?"

"Well, no. But I didn't expect people to be right here. I mean they can't even be more than a few miles away. Have you ever gone out there?"

"No, I don't think they want us to know that they're there."

"Why would they . . ." I trail off as I realize that the gate locks from the outside. "So what are we criminals or something? An experiment?"

"I don't know, but when I do find out I want you to be there."


	15. Chapter 15

Hey everyone! Sorry this update took so long, I meant to put it up yesterday but then I forgot to write. Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter! I hope you guys like this one. Next update will either be Tuesday or Wednesday. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

It's been three days since Eric found out that I'm Divergent. I haven't faced any new fears during this time, instead I've repeated each one once. I've noticed that the simulations don't affect me as much as they appear to affect the other initiates. While Al screams and cries into his pillow every night, I bite my nails and force my mind to shut down in order to stop nightmares from beginning. I don't know if it's because I'm Divergent, or if it's because I'm accustomed to living in fear. I've managed to avoid Tobias throughout all of this.

At the moment I'm lying down on Eric's couch. I'm reading a book and my legs rest on Eric's lap, while he fills out paperwork. We've been doing this for almost an hour when someone knocks on the door. I glance up at Eric, who looks as if he's going to ignore it but then the knocking continues. Eric moves his papers onto the coffee table and I pull my feet back as he stands up. The knocking stops and I hear Eric open the door.

"I need to talk to Liss," I hear my brother tell Eric at the door.

"She's not here," Eric says.

I bite my lip, it's a bit cowardly for me to continue to avoid Tobias like this. I'll have to talk to him eventually, so I might as well get it over with.

"It's fine, Eric." I sit up on the couch and start moving towards the door. "I should probably talk to him."

Tobias stands stiffly at the door, his hands are curled into fist and his jaw is clenched. Eric blocks the majority of the doorway and I lift my eyes to meet his. He looks hesitant to let me pass, but after a moment he nods and takes a step back. I grab the door handle and shut the door as I step out into the hall. I then step out of the doorway and turn to Tobias.

"What?" I say.

"Liss, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say what I did," Tobias tells me.

"You didn't mean to _say _it or you didn't _mean _it?"

"Liss, I-" Tobias starts.

"No, stop. Why can't you just trust me? Eric likes me, he wouldn't want to hurt me and he definitely wouldn't use me."

"I do trust you, Liss. I just don't get why you trust _him _more than you trust me."

"Why does it have to be a competition? I trust him and I trust you."

"But why do you _trust _him?"

"Because-Because he knows about me being-you know."

There's a moment of silence before Tobias says, "He knows."

"_Only_ about me."

"When did he find out?"

"A couple days ago and he's had tons of opportunities to kill me but he hasn't. He said, he'd protect me." I pause. "So, if that's all, I'll be going back into Eric's room."

"Liss, I really am sorry."

"I know. And I get that you don't like Eric, but could you at least attempt to be less hostile towards him."

Tobias nods.

"Then, I guess, we're good."

I turn to go back into Eric's room when Tobias says,

"I want to have a word with Eric first."

"Okay?"

I push open the door and walk into the room. Eric is sitting on the couch, staring at his paperwork and when I walk in he gets up and walks over to me.

"Four wants to talk to you," I announce.

Eric looks at Tobias and lifts an eyebrow. Tobias looks between Eric and I for a moment before stepping closer to Eric and saying,

"If you hurt her in anyway, I will kill you."

Normally, I would laugh at such a clique threat, but they way Tobias says it, so quiet and serious, sends a shiver down my spine. Eric's lips twitch.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Eric replies and smirks slightly. "The only one who has hurt her since she's been here, has been you."

Tobias eyes harden and his hands curl into fists.

"Maybe you should go," I say to Tobias, trying to cut the tension in the room.

Tobias looks as if he wants to disagree, instead he nods stiffly before exiting.

"Why'd you have to say that?" I ask Eric once Tobias is gone.

"It was the truth."

I sigh and curl back up on the couch.

"I just wish that you two could get along for once."

Eric doesn't respond and I spend the rest of the night fearing that I'll end up having to eventually choose between Tobias and Eric.

* * *

"What do you think your rank is?" Will asks me.

We're lying down on his bed in the dormitory, today was the last day of stage two. In an hour or two we'll receive our ranks as a progress report of sorts.

"I don't know, I've been trying to avoid thinking about stage two as much as possible."

I shiver slightly, I was tortured again today in my simulation. My skin on my arms had been charred off and the strange man had removed the majority of my intestines by the time I had finally calmed down.

"I know what you mean, I just hope we're not going through this torture for nothing."

I turn sideways and lift my eyes to Will's. His eyes have dark circles underneath them, new crinkles seemed to have formed around them; he looks tired. Dauntless initiation is slowly sucking the life out of each of us. I reach for his hand before saying,

"We're going to be fine."

He looks doubtful but nods.

An hour later Eric walks into the room with the chalkboard. Will and I get off his bed and make our way to where the rest of the initiates have begun to crowd around him. Tris joins us a moment later.

"What's going on?" she whispers.

"Rankings for stage two," answers Will.

"I thought there weren't any cuts after stage two," Tris says.

"There aren't," I reply. "It's just a progress report, sort of."

Tris nods.

Eric then lifts the board and places it on its hook without a word. When he steps away, I crane my neck in order to see the board. My names in the second slot, Tris is first. Her time is, two minutes and forty five seconds, mine is four minutes and thirty seven seconds. I glance over at her, with a sinking feeling in my stomach; there's no way she could get that time without being Divergent and the other leaders probably know it too. My eyes flicker back to the board and trail down the list, I see that Christina is seventh, Will is ninth, and Al is last.

"Nice job, Tris," Will says quietly.

She nods.

I notice Peter turn towards her slowly, he stands stiffly. He shoots her a look of pure hatred, then begins walking to his bunk. At the last second, he swivels around and shoves Tris against the wall, holding her there against it by her shoulders.

"I will not be outranked by a Stiff," he hisses. "How did you do it, huh? How the hell did you do it?"

Peter pulls her forward then, slams her back up against the wall. I grab his arm, pushing my nails into his skin as Will grabs him by his collar and helps me pull him back. I release my grip once he's off of Tris.

"Leave her alone," Will says. "Only a coward bullies a little girl."

"A little girl?" Peter scoffs, pushing Will's hand off. "Are you blind, or just stupid? She's going to edge you out of the rankings and out of _Dauntless_, and you're going to get _nothing_, all because she knows how to manipulate people and you don't. So when you realize that she's out to ruin us all, you let me know."

Peter storms out of the room, Molly and Drew following. I glare at them for a moment before turning back to Tris.

"Thanks," Tris says to Will and I.

"Is he right? Are you trying to manipulate us?" Will asks quietly, causing me to frown at him.

"How on earth would I do that?" Tris scowls. "I'm doing the best I can, like anyone else."

"I don't know." Will shrugs. "By acting weak, so we pity you? And then acting tough to psyche us out?"

"Psyche you out?" Tris repeats. "I'm your _friend_. I wouldn't do that."

Will doesn't answer.

"Don't be an idiot, Will," Christina says, hopping down from her bunk. "She's not acting."

She then walks out of the room. Will follows and I feel a surge of anger flow through me. I spare a glance at Tris, who looks smaller than ever, before storming after Christina and Will.

"Hey!" I shout at the duo, once I'm in the hall. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Christina asks.

I give her an, _are you kidding me_, look. "You're gonna side with _Peter_, over your friend? And all because she's _finally _doing better in initiation."

"We're not siding with Peter," Will tells me.

"That's easy for you to say seeing as you're ranked second," Christina says.

"Okay, if you want to believe that she's manipulating you, fine. But tell me how she's doing it."

They both remain silent.

"Exactly, it isn't possible. Peter's just trying to cause problems because he didn't get first, _again_. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go hang out with my _friend_, Tris."

I spin around and walk down the hallway. Tris is walking out of the dormitory and I yell,

"Tris, wait up!"

She stops walking and turns towards me.

"Hey," I say when I reach her. "Congratulations by the way, doesn't seem like anyone else is going to say it."

She smiles slightly, and it's then that I realize that I haven't really hung out with Tris at all. We've hung out with other people around, but we rarely talked.

"Thanks, congrats to you too."

We become silent after that, and we make our way down several hallways. Finally, we stop in one hallway and sit down on the ground. I bite my lip and look around the hallway, once I'm sure it's empty I say,

"You should be more careful."

Panic flashes over her face for a moment before she answers, "Careful with what?"

I check the hallway once more before saying, "You're Divergent." She looks as if she's about to deny so I continue, "Your time gives it away."

"Are you Divergent?"

I nod.

She looks worried so I say, "Don't worry about it, though. The damage is already done, being quick in simulations isn't going to give them enough proof to kill you. You'll be fine."

"Tris! Liss!" someone calls. I look up and see Uriah jogging towards us, Lynn and Marlene trail behind him.

"Thought I would find you two here." Uriah crouches down next to us. "I heard you got ranked first," he looks at Tris then turns to me, "and you got ranked second."

"So you just wanted to congratulate me?" Tris smirks. "Well, thanks."

"Yeah, Tris, you're the first person to say that to me."

"_Someone _should. And I figured your friends might not be so congratulatory, since their ranks aren't as high. So quit moping and come with us. I'm going to shoot a muffin off Marlene's head."

I laugh, as does Tris. We get up and follow him down the hall to where Marlene and Lynn are waiting.

"Why aren't you two out celebrating?" Marlene questions. "You're practically guaranteed a top ten spot if you keep it up."

"They're too Dauntless for the other transfers," Uriah answers.

"And too Abnegation to 'celebrate'," Lynn says.

"So, why are you shooting a muffin off Marlene's head?" I ask.

"She bet me I couldn't aim well enough to hit a small object from one hundred feet," Uriah explains. "I bet her she didn't have the guts to stand there as I tried. It works out well, really."

We make our way to the training room where we were taught how to shoot a gun. When we enter I notice that it looks the same as it had then; targets on one side and guns are laid out on a table on the other.

"They just keep these lying around?" Tris inquires staring at the guns.

"Yeah, but they aren't loaded," Uriah answers

Uriah then lifts up his shirt, a gun is stuck under the waistband of his pants. He pulls out the gun and I notice that it's not the same as the ones lined up on the table behind us. Instead it closer resembles the guns that we used during capture the flag.

"Go stand in front of a target," Uriah instructs.

Marlene skips over to one.

"You aren't seriously going to shoot at her, are you?" Tris asks.

"It's not a real gun," I reply. "I know a fake gun when I see one," I add as an explanation.

Lynn nods and says, "Yeah, it's got plastic pellets in it. The worst it'll do is sting her face, maybe give her a welt. What do you think we are, stupid?"

Tris says nothing. I turn and see Marlene standing in front of one of the targets. She places the muffin on her head and Uriah aims his gun.

"Wait!" calls out Marlene. She picks off a piece of the muffin, then tosses it in her mouth. "Mmkay!" she calls and gives Uriah a thumbs up.

"I take it your ranks were good," Tris says to Lynn.

She nods. "Uriah's second. I'm first. Marlene's fourth."

"You're only first by a _hair_," Uriah says then shoots. The muffin falls off Marlene's head. She didn't even blink.

"We both win!" she shouts.

"You miss your old faction?" Lynn asks.

"Sometimes," Tris answers. "It was calmer. Not as exhausting."

Lynn looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

"No, it's a relief to be out," I say.

Marlene picks up her muffin and takes a bite.

"Gross!" Uriah exclaims.

"Initiation is supposed to wear us down to who we really are. That's what Eric says, anyway," Lynn says.

"Four says it's to prepare us," Tris replies.

"Well, they don't agree on much," states Lynn.

"That's a bit of an understatement," I say.

They both turn to look at me as the door swings open. Shauna, Zeke, and Tobias walk in as Uriah fires at another target.

"I thought I heard something in here," says Tobias.

"Turns out it's my idiot brother," Zeke adds. "You're not supposed to be in here after hours. Careful or Four will tell Eric, then you'll be as good as scalped."

I almost laugh. Tobias hates Eric, he'd never tattle on us for something so unimportant. Uriah however wrinkles his nose and stuffs the pellet gun away. Marlene takes another bite out of her muffin as Four moves out of the doorway, so that we can file out. I smile at him when I pass.

Behind me I hear Lynn say, "You wouldn't tell Eric."

"No, I wouldn't," Tobias responds.

Marlene offers me a part of her muffin and I accept. I glance back and see Tobias' and Tris' hands entwined. I smile slightly and a moment later Tris rushes past me and starts talking with Uriah. I hang back and wait for Tobias to catch up.

"You've been holding back on me. That thing, that just happened between you two, it was cute."

He rolls his eyes at me. "Nothing has happened."

I frown. "Nothing?"

"Nothing. Now go hang out with your friends."

"You're so bossy," I joke. "However, I suppose I should leave you. Can we do breakfast tomorrow?"

He smiles slightly, "Sure."

I nod at him once more before running to catch up with Tris, Marlene, Uriah and Lynn.


	16. Chapter 16

Hey, everyone! So sorry for the wait, I'm going to attempt to make it up to you by possibly posting two more chapters this weekend. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I rewrote it like seven times because it was bothering me. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

When I make it back to the dorm later that evening, after seeing Eric, I hear Al sobbing. It's different than usual, somehow. It's quieter and he gasps for air every couple seconds as if he's being strangled. I don't say anything though, instead I quickly change into pajamas and slip into my bed. I fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow.

* * *

I get ready quickly the next morning, and as I'm exiting the room, I notice that Tris' bed is empty. I frown slightly, but continue to the cafeteria. I sit down at an empty table and begin to pick at a muffin. Soon Will and Christina join me. We talk some as I wait for Tobias to arrive. When he does I get up and say a quick goodbye to my friends before heading over to where my brother has chosen to sit.

"Hey," I say, sitting down next to him.

He looks tense and his eyes flicker to the entrance every couple seconds.

"Hey," he repeats, distractedly.

I look towards the doorway but see nothing unusual. "What's wrong?"

His hands are balled into fists. "Peter, Drew, and Al tried to throw _Tris _into the chasm."

I feel my eyes widen. "Is she okay?"

"For the most part, she's just a bit shaken up."

"So, she was in your room last night?"

"Yeah."

"Good." I pause. "Wait, you said _Al_?"

He nods and when he looks at the door his eyes stay over there this time. I look over and see Tris, she walks slowly next to the wall. Her head is down and she's cowering.

"I can't believe _he'd _do that."

I glance around, and glare when I spot Peter. Then I see Drew shuffling into the cafeteria. His entire face is purple, his lip is split, and a cut runs through his eyebrows. He keeps his eyes down as he treads carefully through the cafeteria. I look over and see Tobias smirking slightly.

"Did you do that?"

"Yeah, but he deserves worse, as does Peter."

I nod. "Well, I'd be glad to offer my assistance in getting back at them."

"_No_, you need to be careful, Liss."

I don't answer and he stands up.

"Transfers," he starts and everyone turns to look at him. "We're doing something different today. Follow me."

We all scramble up and follow after him. I fall back so that I can get near my friends.

"You alright, Tris? Four told me what happened."

"I'm okay," she replies.

"Wait, Four knows? Is he going to do anything about it?" Will questions.

"I don't think he can." Will frowns and I continue, "Either way, we need to do something to make sure Peter doesn't get into Dauntless. I don't think Al or Drew are a problem, but Peter has to go before he tries something like this again."

"Do you think your brother could help us with that?" Christina asks.

"Probably not, and it'd be best not to mention this to him either; he told me not to get involved."

The walkway narrows, so Tris and Christina walk ahead of Will and I on the steep stairs.

"I'm sorry," Will tells me.

"For what?"

"For not listening to you yesterday, when you said that Tris wasn't manipulating us. If I had listened Peter, Drew, and Al wouldn't have hurt Tris."

"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have stopped it from happening."

He shrugs as we continue up the stairs. It's then that I notice he keeps looking down warily and his face is white. He's afraid of heights, just like Tobias. I loop my arm through his and he sends me a grateful smile. Tobias turns around and walks backwards as we go through a narrow pathway without a railing. His eyes go to the back of the line where Drew slowly treks.

"Pick up the pace, Drew!" Tobias calls.

I snicker slightly and Will looks at me curiously before a look of comprehension passes through his eyes.

"Four did that?" he inquires, eyeing Drew.

I nod, as Will looks at Tobias in surprise. We reach another flight of metal stairs. They creak underneath my weight and through the cracks I can see the Pit and the chasm below us. We, then walk across the glass ceiling and through several glass rooms before Four opens a door. Behind it is a huge dark room, with graffitied walls and exposed pipes. The word 'Dauntless' is spray painted in red on the concrete wall. The room is lit by odd fluorescent tubes.

"This is a different kind of simulation known as the fear landscape. It has been disabled for our purposes, so this isn't what it will look like the next time you see it," Tobias says. "Through your simulations, we have stored data about your worst fears. The fear landscape accesses that data and presents you with a series of virtual obstacles. Some of the obstacles will be fears you previously faced in your simulations. Some may be new fears. The difference is that you are aware, in the fear landscape, that it is a simulation, so you will have all your wits about you as you go through it."

He continues, "The number of fears you have in your landscape varies according to how many you have.I told you before that the third stage of initiation focuses on mental preparation. That is because it requires you to control both your emotions and your body-to combine the physical abilities you learned in stage one with the emotional mastery you learned in stage two. To keep a level head."

"Next week you will go through your fear landscape as quickly as possible in front of a panel of Dauntless leaders. That will be your final test, which determines your rankings for stage three. Just as stage two of initiation was weighted more heavily than stage one, stage three is weighed heaviest of all. Understood?"

We all nod.

"You can get past each obstacle in one of two ways. Either you find a way to calm down enough that the simulation registers a normal, steady heartbeat, or you find a way to face your fear, which can force the simulation to move on. One way to face a fear of drowning is to swim deeper, for example. So I suggest that you take the next week to consider your fears and develop strategies to face them."

"That doesn't sound fair," Peter pipes up. "What if one person only has seven fears and someone else has twenty? That's not their fault."

I look at him in disbelief.

Tobias laughs. "Do you really want to talk to me about what's fair?"

The initiates part and Tobias approaches Peter, he folds his arms, then says in a deadly voice, "I understand why you're worried, Peter. The events of last night certainly proved that you are a miserable coward."

Peter says nothing.

"So now we all know that you are afraid of a short, skinny girl from Abnegation."

Tobias mouth curls up into a smile. I snort and Christina puts her hands to her mouth in order to suppress her laughter.

* * *

When we arrive at the dorm later that afternoon, Al is there. Christina stands on one side of Tris and Will and I stand on the other. Al's eyes are swollen and bloodshot. I watch warily as he approaches Tris. I feel like I'm invading their privacy but Tris looks like she doesn't want to be alone, so I stay.

"Tris," Al says and his voice cracks. "Can I talk to you?"

I look at her, it's unlikely that she'll say yes but I hope that she does. Al won't try anything, I know that, so it wouldn't do any harm if they talked. Will apparently doesn't feel the same way because he says,

"Are you kidding me? You don't get to come near her ever again."

"I won't hurt you. I never wanted to . . ." Al covers his face as he begins to sob. "I just want to say that I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't . . . I don't know what's wrong with me, I . . . please forgive me, _please_. . . ."

His voice shakes and he sounds desperate. He reaches for Tris' shoulder or her hand, his face is wet with tears.

"Stay away from me," Tris orders quietly. "Never come near me again."

Al's hand falls and Tris stands rigidly.

"If you do, I swear to God I will kill you," Tris threatens. "You coward."

I know that what Al did was wrong, but I still feel as if Tris is being slightly too harsh. I don't say anything though, instead I watch as Al slumps and walks away dejectedly.

* * *

I sit with Eric at dinner. I push my food around on my plate, not feeling very hungry.

"How many fears did you have?" I ask Eric.

He swallows the food he had been chewing before saying, "Twelve."

I chew on my bottom lip nervously and stare at my lap. I've only faced three fears so far, I know I'll have more than that during the landscape. Not knowing what I will see makes me feel anxious. I won't have an advantaged now, since everyone will be aware. Eric lifts up my chin and my eyes rise to meet his.

"You'll do fine," he tells me.

"What would you do if I didn't?"

"You'd still be fine."

I frown and he trails his hand down to meet mine.

"So, you'd let me into Dauntless, even if I was awful? Isn't that unfair?" I inquire.

"You're not awful, though. You told me at the beginning of initiation that you could do this without me, and you could."

I nod, dubiously and watch as Peter walks into the cafeteria.

"Is anything going to happen to him?" I ask, and tilt my head in Peter's direction.

"No, why?"

"Because he tried to _kill _Tris, I mean you said that the Dauntless take initiation seriously, shouldn't you be doing something to eliminate threats to the initiates then. What if he had tried to attack me, I'm ranked above him, would you do something then?"

He spins the piercing in his eyebrow around thoughtfully before saying,

"He won't be forced out of Dauntless, if that's what you're expecting. The other leaders think he's a good asset. I can lower his rank, but I wouldn't worry about him. He'll learn his place once initiation is over."

"I hope so."

He pushes a piece of my hair back and he cups my cheek.

"No one is going to hurt you while I'm around," he promises.


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I hope to post a chapter by Friday. I hope you guys enjoy this one. Please review!

Disclaimer: I only own Liss.

* * *

I wake up the next morning to someone shaking me.

"Liss, Liss get up," Will says, his voice sounds strained.

My eyes flutter open; Will stands above me, his jaw is clenched and his eyes look watery, but he's not crying.

"It's Al," he tells me. "Come on."

I get out of bed quickly and follow Will out of the dorm. Some of the initiates are up and crying while others like Peter stay in their beds. I jog with Will to the pit, trying to force myself to wake up. A group of people surround the chasm, and two men stand next to the edge pulling something up. I feel my stomach drop; Will stops a few feet away, but I move closer so that I'm next to the railing.

I look down at the roaring water, then shift my gaze to the side. I see a huge dark body, when it's pulled further up it turns slightly and I can see Al's face. His eyes are blank, his lips are blue, and the rest of his skin is white. I stay frozen in my spot as he is pulled up the rest of the way and dropped onto the floor of the Pit. I watch blankly as they pull him over to the body bag.

A hand lands on my shoulder and turns me around. Arms wrap around me and it takes me a second to realize that it's Will and he's telling me something that I can't quite hear. I blink, trying to rid myself of the disconnected feeling that I'm experiencing, but when my eyes close I see Al's dead body.

I shudder and tear myself away from Will before turning back to where Al is lying. Someone has closed his eyes, to make it appear as if he's sleeping and they're struggling to get him in the body bag. Will grabs my arm and leads me away from the scene. I don't struggle, just follow numbly.

* * *

It's been a couple hours since Al's body was dragged up from the chasm. Will and I sit in an empty hallway, we're mostly silent as we drink tea.

"We weren't even really friends. I don't know why I'm upset," I say after a while. "I mean, we kind of were, but we weren't friends how you and I are friends. It that makes sense."

Will nods. "You're still allowed to be upset."

"I'm acting selfish."

"That's your Abnegation speaking. It's not selfish to miss someone."

"Isn't it? I was fine with him being cut from Dauntless, I think I even wanted it. I can't say that his death was too big of a shock either, we saw how he was acting. He's been depressed ever since he came here, especially during stage two . . . I just feel like I should have done something to stop it."

"It wasn't just you, Liss. We all saw it and ignored it. You're not a bad person."

I shrug and take a sip of my drink.

We don't talk much after that. A while later we leave the hallway and head to the pit where a funeral of sorts for Al is taking place. The pit reeks of alcohol and the majority of the people are already tipsy. We walk over to Uriah and Christina, where the other initiates are standing. Uriah immediately offers me a silver flask and I take it hesitantly. I then take a quick swig, the warm liquid tastes disgusting and burns as it goes down my throat. I scrunch up my nose and hand it back to him as Tris joins us. Uriah offers her the flask, but she shakes her head.

"Surprise, surprise," Molly says. "Once a Stiff, always a Stiff."

I roll my eyes and Tris ignores her. Molly moves closer to Tris and talks into her ear,

"I read an interesting article today. Something about your dad, and the real reason you left your old faction."

Before Molly can go on, Tris twists around and punches her in the jaw. Molly lunges at Tris but Will grabs her collar and pulls her back before she can hurt Tris.

"Quit it. Both of you," he orders.

I turn my head and watch Eric climb onto a box next to the railing of the chasm.

"Quiet down, everyone!" he shouts.

The chatter in the room quiets down, but doesn't completely stop.

"Thank you," he continues. "As you know, we're here because Albert, an initiate, jumped into the chasm last night."

The room falls silent.

"We do not know why," says Eric, "and it would be easy to mourn the loss of him tonight. But we did not choose a life of ease when we became Dauntless. And the truth of it is . . ." Eric gives a fake smile. "The truth is, Albert is now exploring an unknown, uncertain place. He leaped into vicious waters to get there. Who among us is brave enough to venture into that darkness without knowing what lies beyond it? Albert was not yet one of our members, but we can be assured that he was of our _bravest_!"

A cry burst through the middle of the room. Then the rest of the Dauntless are cheering, whooping and shouting. Christina takes the flask from Uriah and drinks. Will wraps his arm around her and pulls her to him. Eric's speech makes me feel sick, Al wasn't brave. We shouldn't be celebrating his suicide and acting as if it's the most honorable thing he could have done.

"We will celebrate him now, and remember him always!" Eric yells, and someone hands him a dark bottle. "To Albert the Courageous!"

"To Albert!" shouts the crowd. Arms shoot up around me, as the Dauntless shout his name. "Albert! Al-bert! Al-bert!"

Eric's eyes collide with mine, and I shake my head slightly. I can't stand another second of this, so I turn around and walk out of the room. I don't know where I'm going, I just keep walking. Eventually, I end up at the training room with the punching bags. It feels like ages since I've been here, but it looks the same.

I walk over to my usual bag and hit it. It feels nice, and I punch it again. A few minutes later I fall into a steady rhythm: punch, kick, kick, punch. My broken arm stays in a defensive position, as I hit the bag. A couple more minutes pass by before the door opens, and Eric walks in. I punch the bag one last time before turning around and facing him.

"Why'd you leave?" Eric asks.

"Glorifying suicide isn't exactly my kind of thing." I pause before hesitantly asking, "Did you mean what you said back there?"

"No, but I wasn't going to reprimand him. He's dead."

I nod before saying, "This may be selfish of me, but I really don't want to think about Al. He made his choices and I can't change them, so I just want to forget about it."

"Well, I can think of a way to distract you," he tells me.

He pulls me towards him before leaning down and kissing me. My lips tingle and my mind is hazy when he pulls away. It's easy to forget about Al, when I'm with Eric like this; so I immediately stand on my tip toes and press my lips back to Eric's.

* * *

I stand at the railing of the chasm with Will, Tris, and Christina. It's late and my back stings slightly due to my new tattoo. After dinner we all had agreed to get tattoos, I went with the Dauntless symbol. I stare down at the water roaring below and my mind trails back to the first time I saw it; I remember wondering how it would feel to fall in.

I close my eyes and listen to the roaring water, I wonder how long Al waited before jumping in, or if he just did it without a second thought. The shuffling of papers to my left makes me reopen my eyes. Christina is handing Tris a stack of articles written by the Erudite, each one criticizes Abnegation.

"Have you ever met her?" Tris questions Will; holding up a paper with a picture of Jeanine Matthews, the Erudite leader, printed on it.

Christina takes the paper from Tris and crumples it into a ball before tossing it into the roaring water.

"Jeanine? Once," he answers, taking the next paper and shredding it. "Because she was a leader, she worked with my sister. They were trying to develop a longer-lasting serum for the simulations. Jeanine's so smart you can see it even before she says anything. Like . . . a walking, talking computer."

I take the next paper and scrunch it up before flinging it over the railing.

"What . . ." Tris trails off. "What do you think of what she has to say?"

I tense up. Tris refuses to believe that there could be something wrong with the Abnegation running the government. I might feel the same, if Marcus wasn't the leader. I know Will partially agrees with Jeanine and the other Erudite, he used to be one of them after all.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a good idea to have more than one faction in control of the government. And maybe it would be nice if we had more cars and . . . fresh fruits and . . ." Will trails off.

Tris flushes red, "You do realize there's no secret warehouse where all that stuff is kept, right?"

"Yes, I do," Will responds. "I just think comfort and prosperity are not a priority for Abnegation, and maybe they would be if the other factions were involved in our decision making."

"Because giving an Erudite boy a car is more important than giving food to the factionless," Tris snaps.

"Chill out, Tris," I say. "Nothing's going to happen, the Erudite have been picking at the Abnegation for years and nothing has changed. But if it did, why would it have to be bad? I'm not saying the Erudite are right about Abnegation being a cruel faction, but shouldn't the people be in charge of the government?"

Will nods and Tris glares at me.

"Hey now," Christina cuts in, running her fingers over Will's shoulders. "This is supposed to be a lighthearted session of symbolic document destruction, not a political debate."

"All that stuff about your dad, though," Will says to Tris, "makes me kind of hate her. I can't imagine what good can come of saying such terrible things."

I avert my eyes. They have not only attacked Tris' father in the articles but also Marcus. The other initiates don't tease me about it as much as they tease Tris because I don't react when they do. I keep my eyes locked on the roaring water of the chasm and watch as the remaining papers float downwards.

"It's bedtime," Christina announces. "Ready to go back? I think I want to put Peter's hand in a bowl of warm water to make him pee tonight."

"That sounds great," Tris replies, "but I have to talk to Four about something."

I pull my eyebrows together and look over at her, only to see that she's pointing up. I look up and can barely make out a shadow that looks vaguely like Tobias'.

"Are you sure you should be running around here alone at night?" Christina questions.

"I won't be alone, I'll be with Four," Tris says.

"Alright, are you coming, Liss?" Christina asks distractedly.

I look over at to where she stands with Will, her hands rest on his shoulder and I get the feeling that they want to be alone.

"Nah, I think I'm going to stay a bit longer."

She nods before saying, "Well, I'll see you guys later, then."

They all leave and after a decent amount of time has passed, I begin to make my way towards the I can reach them, however, I'm pushed up against one of the walls and a knife is pressed up against my throat, while another hand presses my shoulder firmly against the wall. It's not a butter knife like I would expect, but closely resembles the knives we used during stage one. I squirm, as I catch sight of my attacker, Peter. I laugh slightly, feeling as if I should have expected this. I force my body to loosen up before I say,

"Can I help you?"

He scowls at me and his grip on my arm tightens. The coldness in his eyes and his movements remind me of Marcus.

"I heard you asked Eric to lower my rank," he claims, his eyes sparkle with rage.

"So, you thought coming at me with a knife would help you out? I mean, I knew you weren't bright, but this is a whole new level of stupidity."

He presses the knife harder up against my throat, but his grip on my arm loosens slightly.

"You're going to tell him that you've changed your mind about me, or else I'm going to tell the other leader's that you've been cheating in initiation with Eric's help."

I hold back a laugh, he's dimmer than I thought if he thinks he can accuse Eric of something like that. Instead, I bring my knee up in between his legs, he groans and bends down slightly. His grip on my arm has loosened enough, so I'm able to wiggle out and push him away from me. He drops the knife, and as it clatters to the floor I hastily pick it up. I turn it over as he straightens up.

I lift the dagger and kick him in the stomach so that he stumbles back into the wall. I use my arm with my cast to hold him against the wall, then bring the knife up to his shoulder. I push it in slightly, just enough to break the skin and let him know I'm being serious.

"You're a coward, the exact opposite of everything the Dauntless stand for." I bring the knife up and trail it around his eye, thinking of how he stabbed Edward. "If you _ever _try to attack me, or any of my friends again," I dig the knife into his skin and a small amount of blood surfaces, "I won't hesitate in killing you."

I complete the circle around his eye, he wears a poker face but he trembles slightly. He gives the smallest of nods and I step back, keeping the knife in a defensive position in front of my body. I lean up against the wall and watch him walk away quickly but calmly. After a moment I tuck the dagger into my boot, thinking it would be best not to be seen with it. Then I make my way back to the dorm.


End file.
